West Bloomfield, MI Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Chapter 12, Article IV of the Township Code governs flood hazard areas mapped on the FEMA Flood Insurance Study for Oakland County dated September 29, 2006. Sec. 12-71 declares any obstruction in a floodway a public nuisance unless the property owner has obtained a township permit for it. Sec. 12-72 flatly bars three categories of development from a flood hazard area: any assembly structure, public or private; mobile homes; and any new residential dwelling that does not comply with the state construction code's flood-hazard construction standards, and before the township will issue a certificate of occupancy for a new home in a flood hazard area, a registered professional engineer or architect must certify compliance with those standards.

Sec. 12-73 requires a written use permit from the township for a broader list of activities: altering topography on flood hazard land, locating or maintaining any operation, obstruction, or structure within the floodway, and altering any existing obstruction or structure in the floodway or floodplain. In reviewing a permit application, the township weighs factors including danger to life, health, or property from backed-up or diverted water, danger the obstruction could wash downstream and injure others, water pollution risk, and whether the project would destabilize the long-term tax base of the area.

A permit cannot be issued unless the state construction code's flood standards are satisfied, adequate flood storage capacity remains, the use genuinely depends on the floodplain location, and no feasible, prudent alternative exists. Sec. 12-74 exempts routine agricultural, park, and conservation uses, such as crop cultivation, pasture, and picnic groves, from needing a use permit at all, so long as any building serving them still meets the flood-hazard construction standards.