Georgetown, KY Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)
FEMA flood zone rules in Georgetown, KY, also called floodplain regulations or special flood hazard area (SFHA) rules, determine flood insurance requirements and elevation standards for new construction.
Key Facts
- Permit required
- Before any construction or development in a special flood hazard area
- Floodplain administrator
- Planning Commission's director of development services, or designee
- Adopted maps
- FEMA flood insurance study and FIRM dated January 8, 2014
- As-built certification
- Due after the lowest floor is placed, before construction continues
- Class 3 fine
- $200.00 initial, plus $200.00 per seven days, up to $1,000.00
- Maps on file
- Planning Commission, 230 East Main Street
Summary
Anyone building or doing other development in a special flood hazard area in Georgetown needs a development permit from the floodplain administrator before work begins. Georgetown Code § 18-33 requires scaled plans, elevation data and an as-built elevation certification, and a missing or deficient certification is cause for a stop-work order.
(a) Generally. ... A development permit shall be obtained before any construction or other development begins within any special flood hazard area established in section 18-7 . Application for a development permit shall be made on forms furnished by the floodplain administrator prior to any development activities, and may include, but not be limited to, the following: plans in duplicate drawn to scale showing the nature, location, dimensions, and elevations of the area in question; existing or proposed structures, fill, storage of materials, drainage facilities; and the location of the foregoing. Endorsement of the floodplain administrator is required before a state floodplain construction permit can be processed. ... (b) Certification and review. When floodproofing is utilized for a particular structure, said certification shall be prepared by or under the direct supervision of a certified professional engineer or architect. Any continued work undertaken prior to the submission of the certification shall be at the permit holder's risk. ... Failure to submit the survey or failure to make said corrections required hereby shall be cause to issue a stop-work order for the project.
Official source re-checked November 3, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 4).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 18 of the Georgetown Code applies inside the special flood hazard areas that the Federal Emergency Management Agency mapped in its flood insurance study and flood insurance rate maps dated January 8, 2014, together with later amendments (§ 18-7). Those maps are on file for public review at the Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission, 230 East Main Street, Georgetown, Kentucky 40324. The floodplain administrator is the Planning Commission's director of development services or a designee, who grants or denies development permits and can call on the Georgetown-Scott County Building Inspection Department (§ 18-32).
Sections 18-8 and 18-33 set the permit step. A development permit is required before any construction or other development begins in a special flood hazard area, and the application is made on forms the floodplain administrator furnishes. The application includes plans in duplicate drawn to scale showing the nature, location, dimensions and elevations of the area, existing or proposed structures, fill, storage of materials and drainage facilities. Endorsement of the floodplain administrator is required before a state floodplain construction permit can be processed.
At the application stage the code asks for the proposed elevation of the lowest floor, including the basement, of all structures in Zone A and the highest adjacent grade; the elevation to which any non-residential structure will be floodproofed; engineer or architect certifications for a floodproofed non-residential building; and a description of the extent to which any watercourse will be altered or relocated. At the construction stage, once the lowest floor is placed and before construction continues, the permit holder submits a certification of the as-built lowest floor or floodproofed elevation to the floodplain administrator and to the state. In AE, A1-30, AH and A zones where the community has adopted a regulatory base flood elevation, a registered land surveyor or professional engineer prepares it.
Under § 18-9, no structure or land can be constructed, located, extended, converted or structurally altered without full compliance with Chapter 18 and other applicable state regulations.
Violations & Fines
A violation of Chapter 18 is a civil offense enforced under Chapter 2, Article VI by the code enforcement board, hearing officers, code enforcement officers and citation officers, and every violation is a Class 3 violation (§ 18-13). Under § 2-842 an uncontested Class 3 citation starts at a $200.00 fine, with another $200.00 added for each seven days the violation stays unremedied, until the total reaches $1,000.00. The maximum civil fine for a contested citation is $2,000.00. Penalties are waived only if the same or similar violation has not occurred on the property in the same calendar year and it is remedied within seven days of the citation or within the time the code enforcement officer specifies. Section 18-9 also calls a violation a misdemeanor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to build in a Georgetown flood zone?
Where can I look at Georgetown's flood maps?
What happens if I skip the elevation certification?
How much is the fine for building in a flood zone without complying?
Sources & Official References
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