Bartow County, GA Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Bartow County's Floodplain Management/Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, County Code §§ 34-31 through 34-112, applies to all unincorporated areas within the county under § 34-42, and it regulates development along streams with a drainage area of 100 acres or greater. Under § 34-61, no owner or developer may perform development activity on a site containing an area of special flood hazard without first meeting the article's requirements, and any landowner or developer seeking to build there must submit a permit application to the county engineering department; no permit will be approved for work that fails the article's requirements, restrictions, and criteria.

An application also has to include a floodplain management/flood damage prevention plan under § 34-62, with a scaled site plan, base and future-conditions flood elevations, foundation and building design detail, and, for new construction and substantial improvements, three certified FEMA elevation certificates submitted before construction, after the lowest floor is completed, and after final grading under § 34-63. The county engineer administers the article under § 34-43 and § 34-64, reviewing applications, recording elevation data, and interpreting floodplain boundaries, with an appeal available to the board of appeals and then the courts under §§ 34-101 through 34-104. Variances require a finding of good cause and exceptional hardship and cannot be issued within a designated floodway if they would raise flood levels.