Palm Springs, CA Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

68, Flood Damage Prevention, adopted by Ordinance 1739 in 2008 under the authority of Government Code Sections 65302, 65560 and 65800, governs every area of special flood hazard mapped on the city's FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps, which the city engineer administers as floodplain administrator. 150 requires a development permit, obtained on city forms and accompanied by a council-set fee, before any construction, grading, filling or manufactured home placement in a mapped hazard area. The application must include scaled duplicate plans showing the location, dimensions and elevation of the site and any structures, the location of proposed water, sewer and other utilities, existing and proposed grading contours and drainage facilities, the location of the regulatory floodway where one applies, base flood elevation data, and the proposed elevation of the lowest floor of every structure relative to mean sea level.

A nonresidential building seeking floodproofing instead of elevation must include the elevation to which it will be floodproofed and a certification from a registered civil engineer or architect that the floodproofing meets the chapter's criteria. Projects using a crawl-space foundation must show the location and net area of flood openings. 05, and a variance from the permit standards is available only on a showing of good and sufficient cause and exceptional hardship, weighing factors such as danger to life, flood velocity and the availability of alternative, non-flood-prone sites. 68 permit at all depends on which section it sits in; trust parcels fall outside city permitting.