Carroll County, MD Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

005 calls the Floodplain Protection Elevation (FPE), the base flood elevation plus three feet. 11 requires the lowest floor of every new or substantially improved building, and of repair or reconstruction after a repetitive loss, to be elevated three feet above the base flood elevation. Basements are not permitted anywhere in that elevation zone, and even a less-than-substantial horizontal addition must meet the same three-foot freeboard. A registered professional engineer or land surveyor must certify the as-built lowest-floor elevation on the FEMA elevation certificate and submit it to the Code Official before the county will sign off.

12 requires flood openings on at least two different exterior walls, sized to one square inch of net opening per square foot of enclosed area (or an engineered equivalent), with opening bottoms no more than one foot above grade; those enclosed areas may be used only for parking, storage, or building access, and the owner must record a non-conversion agreement that the county inspects annually. 13 pushes the same three-foot freeboard down to utilities, requiring electric distribution panels, HVAC equipment, plumbing fixtures, and gas meters to sit at least three feet above the base flood elevation.

007(G) ties the same FPE to infrastructure: a publicly maintained street serving a new subdivision must be built at or above the FPE unless the county grants a variance.