Taylor, TX Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Sec. 7-40 applies the city's flood damage prevention article to all areas of special flood hazard within Taylor's jurisdiction, areas mapped on FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Map for Williamson County or, for smaller waterways over 64 acres of drainage area, mapped in the city's own Engineering Manual. Sec. 7-42 requires a floodplain development permit for any development in those areas, reviewed by the floodplain administrator, a role the city manager or a designee holds under Sec. 7-51. Sec. 7-85 singles out the regulatory floodway for the strictest treatment: encroachments, including fill, new construction, and substantial improvements, are prohibited outright unless a hydrologic and hydraulic analysis, performed to standard engineering practice, demonstrates the proposed work won't increase flood levels anywhere in the community during a base flood discharge.

If that analysis clears the encroachment, the project still has to comply with every other flood hazard reduction standard in the article. Permit applicants provide elevation data, floodproofing certifications where relevant, and a description of any planned watercourse alteration, and the floodplain administrator can deny a permit that doesn't demonstrate the development won't worsen flooding for other properties. Variances from these standards go through a separate appeal board process and can't be granted within a designated floodway if they'd raise flood levels during a base flood discharge.