Greenville, NC Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

City Code Chapter 9-6, Flood Damage Prevention, defines the regulatory flood protection elevation (RFPE) as the line to which every structure and other development in a special flood hazard area must be elevated or floodproofed. Section 9-6-2 splits the calculation in two: where the Flood Insurance Study has published a base flood elevation (BFE) for the parcel, the RFPE is the BFE plus two feet of freeboard; where no BFE has been determined, the RFPE defaults to two feet above the highest adjacent grade. The chapter, first adopted in 2003 and amended in 2020 and 2021 under Ordinance Nos.

03-123, 20-022 and 21-032, was enacted under state and federal floodplain authority to keep the community eligible for the National Flood Insurance Program and to protect against repetitive flood losses. The special flood hazard area itself is the land shown on the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map with at least a 1% annual chance of flooding, determined under Section 9-6-3(B). Every applicant for a floodplain development permit must show the boundary of that hazard area, the applicable flood zone, and, where BFE data exists, the elevation of the lowest floor of the proposed structure in relation to mean sea level, per Section 9-6-4(B).

The City Engineer, as Local Floodplain Administrator, reviews that data and may look to other federal or state sources when the city's own maps do not provide a BFE. A registered land surveyor or professional engineer must certify the plot plan and the final as-built elevation before the city will treat the project as compliant.