Summit County, OH Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Chapter 1345, the county's floodplain management code, defines the Flood Protection Elevation (FPE) as the base flood elevation, the water surface level of the flood with a one percent annual chance of occurring, also called the 100-year flood. 04(d)(4) requires that new construction and substantial improvement of any residential structure, including manufactured homes, have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated to or above that flood protection elevation; where no elevations are specified for the area, the lowest floor must instead clear the highest adjacent natural grade by at least two feet.

04(e)(2): the lowest floor must likewise reach the flood protection elevation, or the building must instead be dry floodproofed watertight to that level with structural components rated to resist hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads. 04(d)(1) and (2). Enclosures below the lowest floor on pilings, columns, or perimeter walls are allowed only for parking, building access, or storage, and must either be engineer-certified to auto-equalize hydrostatic pressure or have at least two openings on different walls totaling one square inch of net area per square foot of enclosed area, with opening bottoms no higher than one foot above grade.

04(d)(7) if repair work is the minimum necessary to preserve their historic character. The floodplain administrator, per the chapter's general provisions, enforces these standards for the unincorporated County of Summit; incorporated cities like Akron administer their own floodplain chapters.