Fulton County, GA Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Zoning Resolution § 4.24.3 limits the entire floodplain article to unincorporated Fulton County land that contains a special flood hazard area or a flood-prone area, mapped on FEMA's flood insurance rate maps and flood boundary and floodway maps effective June 22, 1998 (§ 4.24.4). Section 4.24.6 requires a land disturbance permit or grading permit before any improvement, including grading and filling, begins within either area. How that permit is issued depends on the project: a building permit on an already-developed lot lets the Director of the Department of Environment and Community Development review and issue the flood permit as part of the building permit, and can waive the flood elevation study if a licensed surveyor supplies base flood elevation data; work needing a land disturbance permit under the county's Erosion and Sedimentation Ordinance is reviewed and issued alongside that permit instead; every other change to a flood area requires its own permit application before construction starts.

Section 4.24.5 bars new buildings, structures, fill and compensatory flood storage inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area outright, with only eight listed exceptions such as agriculture without structures, dams built to Corps of Engineers and state DNR standards, open fences, signage, and parks and recreation areas without buildings. An applicant must also submit certified as-built lowest floor elevation data before the county issues a certificate of occupancy for anything built in or next to a special flood hazard area (§ 4.24.7.B).

This article binds unincorporated Fulton County property only, consistent with the county's participation in the National Flood Insurance Program; land inside Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton, Chattahoochee Hills or South Fulton is regulated under each city's own floodplain ordinance.