Revere, MA Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Chapter 17.46 (Floodplain District Regulations) leaves the actual construction elevation standard to the Massachusetts State Building Code, 780 CMR, which the City cannot amend, but two sections of the local ordinance still shape how base flood elevation is determined and applied within the Floodplain Overlay District. Section 17.46.050 covers unnumbered A Zones, the areas where FEMA has not published a base flood elevation: there the building department must obtain, review and reasonably use the best available base flood elevation and floodway data from federal, state or other sources as the basis for requiring new construction, substantial improvements or other development in Zone A, for elevating residential structures to or above base flood level, for floodproofing or elevating nonresidential structures to or above base flood level, and for prohibiting floodway encroachments. Section 17.46.060 adds that, in Zones AO and AH, adequate drainage paths must be provided around structures on slopes to route floodwaters away from them.

For larger projects, Section 17.46.080 requires that when a proponent proposes a subdivision or other development of more than fifty lots or five acres, whichever is less, the proponent must supply technical data establishing the base flood elevation for every developable parcel shown on the design plans. If new data changes a mapped base flood elevation, Section 17.46.120 requires the City to notify FEMA within six months and to route that notification through the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and the FEMA Region 1 office in Boston. Together, these sections make sure elevation figures used to review Revere projects come from documented sources rather than guesswork, even though the numeric freeboard itself is set by the state code, not city ordinance.