Plymouth, MN Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)
FEMA flood zone rules in Plymouth, MN, also called floodplain regulations or special flood hazard area (SFHA) rules, determine flood insurance requirements and elevation standards for new construction.
Key Facts
- Governing provision
- Plymouth City Code Section 21660
- Districts created
- Floodway, Flood Fringe, General Floodplain
- Permit required
- Administrative permit from Zoning Administrator
- Flatly prohibited uses
- Critical facilities, manufactured home parks, RV parks
- FIRM panels dated
- November 4, 2016 (Hennepin County)
- Violation penalty
- Misdemeanor under Section 21660.10
- Variance path
- City Council, with DNR notice both ways
Summary
The City of Plymouth regulates construction, fill placement, and land-use changes inside the mapped Floodway, Flood Fringe, and General Floodplain Districts under Zoning Ordinance Section 21660. Adopted to keep the city eligible for the National Flood Insurance Program, the ordinance bars critical facilities, manufactured home parks, and recreational vehicle parks or campgrounds from every floodplain district and requires an administrative permit from the Zoning Administrator before any building work, fill, excavation, or flood-blocking fence in a mapped flood hazard area.
This ordinance regulates development in the flood hazard areas of the City of Plymouth. These flood hazard areas are subject to periodic inundation, which may result in loss of life and property, health and safety hazards, disruption of commerce and governmental services, extraordinary public expenditures for flood protection and relief, and impairment of the tax base. ... All uses not listed as permitted uses or conditional uses in Sections 21660.05, 21660.06 and 21660.07 are prohibited. In addition, the following uses are prohibited in all floodplain districts:(a)Critical facilities.(b)Manufactured homes and manufactured home parks.(c)Recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds.(d)The storage or processing of materials that are, in time of flooding, flammable, explosive, or potentially injurious to human, animal, or plant life. ... Violation of the provisions of this Section or failure to comply with any of its requirements (including violations of conditions and safeguards established in connection with grants of variances or conditional uses) constitutes a misdemeanor and will be punishable as defined by law.
Full Breakdown
Plymouth's Floodplain Overlay District, City Code Section 21660, implements Minnesota Statutes Chapter 103F and Chapter 462 and complies with National Flood Insurance Program rules at 44 CFR Parts 59-78. The ordinance splits mapped flood hazard land into three overlay districts, Floodway, Flood Fringe, and General Floodplain, keyed to the Flood Insurance Rate Map panels for Hennepin County dated November 4, 2016. 08. The Floodway District bans structures and storage of materials that would obstruct flood flow; the Flood Fringe District instead lets new structures go up if elevated on fill to or above the regulatory flood protection elevation, with fill extending at least 15 feet beyond the structure.
Citywide, four uses are flatly prohibited in every floodplain district: critical facilities, manufactured homes and manufactured home parks, recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds, and storage of materials that are flammable, explosive, or injurious to life in a flood. Residential basements are barred below the regulatory flood protection elevation in the Flood Fringe District; non-residential basements need FP-1 or FP-2 dry floodproofing certified to the State Building Code. 08, Subd. 3, with hearing notice mailed to the DNR area hydrologist at least ten days ahead and any granted variance reported to DNR within ten days; the Zoning Administrator must warn applicants that building below base flood level can push flood insurance premiums as high as $25 per $100 of coverage.
Violations & Fines
Violating Section 21660 or the terms of a floodplain variance or conditional use permit is a misdemeanor under Section 21660.10, punishable as defined by state law and prosecuted using the enforcement procedures of Section 21050. Each additional day a property owner fails to respond to a Zoning Administrator correction order is a separate violation. The City of Plymouth can combine prosecution and fines with injunctions, after-the-fact permits, corrective-work orders, or a request that FEMA deny flood insurance availability to a noncompliant owner.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to build in Plymouth's floodplain?
What uses are banned outright in Plymouth's floodplain districts?
Can homes have basements in Plymouth's Flood Fringe District?
What happens if I violate Plymouth's floodplain ordinance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Plymouth
Compare Plymouth to another location·View the Minnesota environmental rules overview
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Flood Zones in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Hennepin County handle flood zones.