Coconut Creek, FL Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Section 10-9 is the map adoption clause of the floodplain management ordinance. The City Commission of Coconut Creek adopted the FEMA flood insurance study for Broward County, Florida and incorporated areas dated July 31, 2024, together with the accompanying flood insurance rate maps, and the clause was last amended by Ordinance No. 2024-022 on May 23, 2024. Because the text covers all subsequent amendments and revisions, it reaches later FEMA revisions by its own terms. The adopted maps are the minimum basis, so the city can regulate more land than the FIRM shows.

Section 10-10 shows how. Where topography surveyed by a Florida licensed professional surveyor, or digital topography the city accepts, puts ground elevations below the closest applicable base flood elevation, the area is treated as flood hazard even if the FIRM does not delineate a special flood hazard area there. Where ground elevations sit above the base flood elevation, the land is still regulated as special flood hazard area unless the applicant obtains a letter of map change from FEMA that removes it.

Special flood hazard areas are those with a 1-percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year, shown on the maps as zone A, AO, A1-A30, AE, A99, AH, V1-V30, VE or V (section 10-63). The scope in section 10-2 covers subdivision of land, filling and grading, manufactured homes, tank installation, recreational vehicles and swimming pools, not just buildings. Under section 10-23, anyone who intends to undertake development in a flood hazard area must apply to the floodplain administrator first, and section 10-14 designates the director of utilities and engineering to that post. Section 10-5 warns that larger floods can and will occur, so a map designation is a regulatory minimum and not a promise of safety.