Dearborn County, IN Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Chapter 152 of the Dearborn County Code, adopted by the Board of Commissioners as BC Ord. 2005-8 on 5-3-05, governs development in the special flood hazard area (SFHA) of unincorporated Dearborn County, Indiana. Section 152.18 requires a floodplain development permit before any development activities start in areas of special flood hazard. Under § 152.35 the Board of Commissioners appoints the Planning Director as Floodplain Administrator. Section 152.36 requires the application on the Administrator's forms, with plans in duplicate drawn to scale showing the nature, location, dimensions and elevations of the area, including existing or proposed structures, earthen fill, storage of materials or equipment and drainage facilities. The application must also give the elevation of the top of the lowest floor of every proposed building, basement included, and the elevation to which any nonresidential structure will be floodproofed.

Once the lowest floor or floodproofing is in place, the permit holder must submit an as-built elevation certification prepared by or under the direct supervision of a registered land surveyor or professional engineer. Work done before that certification is at the permit holder's risk, and failure to submit the survey or make the required corrections is cause for a stop work order.

Section 152.19(A) bars any structure from being located, extended, converted or structurally altered in the SFHA without full compliance. Section 152.50(K) requires fill or a structure below the base flood elevation to be balanced by an equivalent volume of excavation, at a replacement ratio of one to one, in the same immediate watershed. Section 152.51(A) extends building protection to any new structure with a floor area greater than 400 square feet, alterations costing 50% or more of the value of the structure, repairs valued at more than 50% of market value, and a travel trailer or recreational vehicle kept on a site for more than 180 days. Under § 152.51(B), new residential construction or substantial improvement needs the lowest floor at or above the FPG, two feet above the base flood elevation.

In an identified floodway, § 152.53 sends the application to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources first, and no development may raise the regulatory flood more than 0.14 of one foot.