FEMA flood zone rules in Plymouth County, MA — also called floodplain regulations or special flood hazard area (SFHA) rules — determine flood insurance requirements and elevation standards for new construction.
Along Plymouth County's coast, land subject to coastal storm flowage and flooding is a protected resource area under the Wetlands Protection Act. Building in these velocity and flood zones requires an order of conditions from the conservation commission, plus NFIP-compliant elevation.
MGL c.131 §40 explicitly protects land subject to tidal action, coastal storm flowage, or flooding, which covers the FEMA V and A zones lining Duxbury, Marshfield, Scituate, and the Buzzards Bay shore. Construction in these areas requires a Notice of Intent and order of conditions from the town conservation commission. Every Plymouth County community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program and enforces a floodplain bylaw: new and substantially improved structures must have their lowest floor elevated above the base flood elevation, and V-zone homes must sit on piles or columns with breakaway walls.
Filling or building in a coastal flood or velocity zone without an order of conditions violates the Wetlands Protection Act and the town floodplain bylaw. Penalties include restoration orders and loss of flood-insurance eligibility.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Plymouth County, MA
No Plymouth County or state law limits holiday lights, inflatables, or yard displays. Towns rarely regulate seasonal decorations at all, and where a bylaw to...
Plymouth County, MA
No Plymouth County rule governs garage-sale signs; towns handle them through local sign bylaws. On your own lawn a yard-sale sign is generally fine, but a si...
Plymouth County, MA
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Plymouth County, MA
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Plymouth County, MA
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Plymouth County, MA
Rent control is illegal across every Plymouth County community. Massachusetts voters banned it in 1994 through Question 9, now codified as MGL c.40P §4: no c...
See how Plymouth County's flood zones rules stack up against other locations.
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