Broomfield, CO Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Chapter 17-40 (Broomfield Floodplain Regulations) adopts by reference the Flood Insurance Study for the City of Broomfield dated August 15, 2019, along with its accompanying Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM); both are kept on file at One DesCombes Drive. Any area shown on that map as a special flood hazard area, plus land later removed from the floodplain by a FEMA Letter of Map Revision Based on Fill, falls under the chapter per section 17-40-055. Before any construction, filling, grading, dredging, drilling, or storage of materials begins in one of those areas, section 17-40-110 requires a development permit from the city engineer, supported by scaled plans showing elevations, proposed structures, and drainage.

The city engineer, appointed under section 17-40-120, reviews permits for compliance with the encroachment limits in section 17-40-170, floodway data, and prior approvals from other agencies, and keeps elevation certificates and floodproofing records on file for public inspection. Section 17-40-070 makes it unlawful to build or alter any structure or land without full compliance with the chapter, and it separately makes violating any restriction unlawful, subjecting violators to the penalties set out in chapter 1-12, B.M.C. Property owners contesting a floodplain boundary, or seeking a variance from the standards, appeal to the board of adjustment under section 17-40-140, which weighs flood danger, alternative sites, and public cost before attaching conditions to any variance it grants.

Variances are generally limited to lots of one-half acre or less that sit among existing structures already built below the base flood level, and none may be issued within a designated floodway if it would raise flood levels.