Lauderhill, FL Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Section 5.1.9.D of the Land Development Regulations defines 'base flood elevation' as the elevation of the base flood, including wave height, relative to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum, North American Vertical Datum, or other datum shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Map. Where a FIRM does not include base flood elevation data for a delineated flood hazard area, Section 5.1.5.B directs the Floodplain Administrator to require the applicant to submit base flood elevation data prepared under accepted engineering practices, obtain agency data, or, absent other data, specify the base flood elevation at two feet above the highest adjacent grade at the site, so long as there is no evidence flood depths could exceed two feet.

'Design flood elevation' in Zone AO equals the highest existing perimeter grade plus the flood-depth number on the flood hazard map, or two feet if none is specified, per Section 5.1.9.D. Section 5.1.6.D requires the owner, upon placement of the lowest floor, to submit a surveyor-sealed elevation certification or, where the two-foot standard applied, documentation of the lowest floor's height above the highest adjacent grade, to the Floodplain Administrator before further vertical construction proceeds; a final certification follows under Section 5.1.6.E. Relief from these elevation standards requires a variance from the City Commission sitting as the Board of Adjustment under Section 5.1.7, and a variance cannot issue for floodway development that would raise base flood elevations.