Taylor, TX Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Sec. 7-82 applies once design or base flood elevation data exists for a site under Sec. 7-41, the section that adopts the FEMA Flood Insurance Study and Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Williamson County, dated December 20, 2019, along with the city's own Engineering Manual floodplain data for smaller drainage areas. For residential construction, new buildings and substantial improvements must have their lowest floor, including any basement, elevated to at least two feet above whichever is higher: the design flood elevation or the base flood elevation.

A registered professional engineer, architect, or land surveyor must certify to the floodplain administrator that the building meets that standard. Nonresidential buildings get an alternative: they can meet the same two-foot freeboard on the lowest floor, or they can floodproof instead, made watertight below the flood level with walls that resist water passage and structural components able to withstand hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads, again certified by a registered engineer or architect and recorded with the floodplain administrator. The same two-foot freeboard standard carries over to manufactured homes and enclosed areas used only for parking, access, or storage below the lowest floor, which must include flood vent openings sized at one square inch per square foot of enclosed area. The city manager serves as floodplain administrator and reviews all of this under the permit process in Sec. 7-53.