Stearns County, MN Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Ordinance 439, the Stearns County Land Use and Zoning Ordinance, sets the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation (RFPE) in Section 10.1.4 at no lower than one foot above the elevation of the regional flood, adjusted upward for any increase caused by floodway encroachments. That elevation governs construction throughout the Floodplain Overlay District, which is split into Floodway, Flood Fringe and General Floodplain areas mapped on the county's Flood Insurance Rate Map panels.

In the Flood Fringe Area, Section 10.1.8.B(1) requires that all structures other than residential accessory buildings be elevated on fill so the lowest floor, including any basement floor, sits at or above the RFPE. The finished fill pad cannot be more than one foot below the RFPE, and the fill must extend at least 15 feet beyond the outside limits of the structure it supports. Residential accessory structures get the same lowest-floor elevation standard but are exempt from the 15-foot fill extension. Storage of materials or equipment must likewise be elevated on fill to the RFPE, and placing more than 1,000 cubic yards of fill on a parcel requires a conditional use permit unless the fill is elevating a structure under 10.1.8.B(1).

Builders who cannot meet the fill standard may pursue a conditional use permit under Section 10.1.8.D and use alternative elevation methods such as stilts, pilings, parallel walls, or above-grade enclosed crawl spaces designed to flood internally, provided the enclosed area is above-grade on at least one side and does not count as the structure's basement or lowest floor. Nonconforming structures already in the overlay district that add on or alter must also be brought up to the RFPE under Section 5.1.2.B(1), using either elevation on fill or approved floodproofing from the State Building Code, unless the cumulative cost of alterations exceeds 50 percent of the structure's assessed market value, at which point the entire structure must meet the full Section 10.1 new-construction standards.