Buena Park, CA Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

020), which is kept on file with the city engineer at 6650 Beach Boulevard. New construction and substantial improvements must be anchored to prevent flotation, collapse, or lateral movement from hydrodynamic and hydrostatic loads, and built with materials and utility equipment resistant to flood damage, with electrical, heating, plumbing, and HVAC equipment located to keep water out during flooding. The lowest floor, including any basement, must be elevated to or above the base flood elevation; in Zones AE, AH, or AO it must sit above the highest adjacent grade by at least the FIRM depth number, or at least two feet if none is specified.

A registered professional engineer or surveyor must certify the finished elevation in writing to the city engineer (or, in AE/AH/AO zones, to the floodplain administrator). Nonresidential structures may instead be flood-proofed below the base flood level so the structure is watertight, with walls able to resist hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads, certified by a registered engineer or architect. Enclosed areas below the lowest floor must allow floodwaters to automatically enter and exit, typically through openings totaling at least one square inch per square foot of enclosed area, with the lowest opening no higher than one foot above grade. 010, and must verify a project will not raise the base flood water surface elevation more than one foot at any point.