Dothan, AL Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

The public works director serves as floodplain administrator under Sec. 42-66 and reviews every application under Sec. 42-69, which asks for the lowest floor elevation, any nonresidential floodproofing elevation with a licensed engineer's or architect's certification, a description of any watercourse alteration, the base flood elevation and floodway boundary from the FIRM, a foundation plan, and details on protecting public utilities from flood damage. Sec. 42-33 ties the whole chapter to FEMA's flood insurance study dated May 2, 2016 and its accompanying flood insurance rate maps, and where the map data is later revised by a FEMA letter of final determination, the revised data replaces the earlier version for permitting purposes.

Sec. 42-37 gives the administrator a full enforcement toolkit: a written notice of violation by certified mail, a stop work order, termination of utility service or withholding a certificate of occupancy, and suspension or revocation of the permit itself, each with its own cure period before the city can act, except where the violation threatens public health or safety, which shortens that window to 24 hours. A property owner can appeal a notice of violation to the city commission within ten days, and from there seek judicial review in circuit court.

Sec. 42-70 sends variance requests to the board of zoning adjustment instead, which weighs flood-hazard factors before granting any deviation from the article's minimum standards.