Sandy, UT Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Section 21-16-14 sets Sandy's freeboard standard for construction in the Floodplain Overlay Zone: every residential structure must have its lowest floor, including a basement, elevated at least one foot above the base flood elevation (BFE), with a registered professional engineer, architect, or land surveyor certifying the elevation to the Floodplain Administrator. Nonresidential buildings get an alternative: dry-floodproof the structure watertight below one foot above the BFE, with walls and structural components able to resist hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads, again certified by a licensed engineer or architect, though converting a floodproofed commercial building to residential use later forfeits that option.

Manufactured homes outside an existing park must sit on a permanent foundation with the lowest floor at BFE-plus-one-foot and be anchored with over-the-top or frame ties rated to resist 4,800 pounds of force, with additional ties required at each corner and at intermediate points along each side. Recreational vehicles are exempt from the elevation standard only if they are on-site fewer than 180 consecutive days, licensed, and ready for highway use; otherwise they need a Floodplain Development Permit and must meet the manufactured-home elevation and anchoring standards.

Any fully enclosed area below the lowest floor used solely for parking, building access, or storage must have at least two openings totaling one square inch of net area per square foot of enclosed space, with the bottom of each opening no higher than one foot above grade, and nonresidential enclosures require a signed non-conversion agreement. Crawlspace construction is allowed only if the interior grade is no more than two feet below the lowest adjacent grade and the crawlspace height does not exceed four feet from interior floor to the joists above, with flood vents sized the same as other enclosures.