Southampton, NY Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

The Town Board's Flood Damage Prevention chapter, Chapter 169, sets the elevation floor for construction in the special flood hazard area mapped across the unincorporated hamlets, Hampton Bays, Water Mill, Bridgehampton, Westhampton, East Quogue, Flanders, Riverside and Noyack among them. Section 169-16A(1) requires that within AE Zones, new construction and substantial improvements have the top of the lowest floor, including any basement, elevated to or above two feet of freeboard above the base flood elevation identified on the FEMA maps adopted in § 169-6, which lists Community No.

365342's FIRM panels effective September 25, 2009, plus subsequent Letters of Map Revision through December 2023. A floodplain development permit from the local administrator, the Town Building Inspector, is required before any such construction under § 169-11, with an application fee set at the building-permit rate and a deposit of no more than $500 for added review costs under § 169-11B. Applicants in AE Zones must submit the proposed lowest-floor elevation in relation to mean sea level under § 169-12A and, once the floor is built, file an as-built elevation certified by a licensed professional engineer or surveyor.

Where base flood elevation data are not mapped in Zone A, § 169-16A(3) requires the applicant to obtain the best available federal, state or engineering data and add two feet of freeboard before building. Any enclosed area below the elevated lowest floor must have flood-vent openings totaling at least one square inch per square foot of enclosed area, with the lowest opening no higher than one foot above grade under § 169-16A(2), and may be used only for parking, building access or storage, never habitation.