Cocoa, FL Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Cocoa's Floodplain Management Ordinance, codified at City Code §§ 6-300 through 6-380, governs all development in mapped flood hazard areas. " Section 6-322 makes the permit mandatory: any owner or authorized agent who intends to undertake development within that scope, wholly or partly inside a flood hazard area, must first apply to the floodplain administrator and obtain the required permit or approval, and none issues until compliance with the ordinance and all other applicable codes is demonstrated. The building official serves as floodplain administrator under § 6-313, reviewing applications under § 6-315 to determine whether proposed work is reasonably safe from flooding, interpreting flood hazard boundaries, and issuing floodplain development permits for anything not already covered by a Florida Building Code permit.

Flood hazard areas are established from the Flood Insurance Study for Brevard County and the accompanying FIRM maps adopted by reference under § 6-308; current maps and studies are kept on file at the Community Services Department/Building Division at 65 Stone Street. Floodplain permits expire if work doesn't start within 180 days or is suspended for 180 days, per § 6-327, though extensions of up to 180 days each are available for justifiable cause. This ordinance was enacted wholesale by Ord. No. 12-2014 on March 11, 2014 and tracks the state's model floodplain ordinance required for National Flood Insurance Program participation.