Lee County, NC Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Section 13.8.3 of the Lee County Unified Development Ordinance sets the county's freeboard standard for any parcel where FEMA base flood elevation data has been provided. Section 13.8.3.1 requires new construction or substantial improvement of a residential structure, including a manufactured home, to have its lowest floor, including any basement, "elevated no lower than two feet above the base flood elevation," two feet more than the federal minimum. If the builder uses solid foundation perimeter walls to raise the structure, those walls must include openings sized to let floodwaters move through rather than pond against the foundation. Section 13.8.3.2 applies the identical two-foot freeboard to commercial, industrial and other non-residential construction, but gives those structures a floodproofing alternative in A zones: the space below the required elevation must be watertight, with walls substantially impermeable to water and structural components able to resist hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and buoyancy, and a registered professional engineer or architect must certify the standard is met and file that certification with the local administrator under Section 13.4.2.5.

Section 13.8.3.3 adds design rules for buildings elevated on enclosed foundations: any enclosed area below the flood elevation must have at least two openings, sized to a minimum of one square inch per square foot of enclosed area, with the lowest opening no higher than one foot above grade, and the enclosed space may not be finished into living space. A floor elevation certification prepared by a registered land surveyor or professional engineer is due to the Department of Community Development within 21 calendar days of completing the lowest floor.