Saint Paul, MN Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Sec. 114 defines 'regulatory flood protection elevation' as the elevation not less than 2 feet above the water surface profile of the regional flood, the flood with a 1 percent annual chance, synonymous with the FEMA 'base flood', plus any increase in flood heights from encroachments on the floodplain. That 2-foot freeboard becomes the operative construction standard under Sec. 172(a): every structure with a roof and a wall, plus attached utilities, gas and liquid storage tanks, and accessory structures in the FF Flood Fringe District must be elevated on fill so the lowest floor, including any basement, sits at or above the regulatory flood protection elevation, and the finished fill can be no lower than 1 foot below that elevation while extending at least 15 feet beyond the structure's outside limits.

Sec. 172(b) allows a fallback for small accessory structures, 500 square feet or less at ground level, to be internally floodproofed instead of elevated on fill under Sec. 164(e). Structures that skip elevation or floodproofing under Sec. 172 need a conditional use permit under Sec. 173, and Sec. 174 sets out alternatives such as stilts, piers, or above-grade crawl spaces designed to flood internally, plus limits on residential basement construction below the regulatory flood protection elevation. Sec. 175(a) also requires new principal structures to have vehicular access at an elevation no more than 2 feet below the regulatory flood protection elevation.

All of these standards trace to Ord. No. 25-72, adopted December 10, 2025, and implement Minn. ch. 103F and the National Flood Insurance Program's 44 CFR Parts 59-78.