Flagler County, FL Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Chapter 11, the Flagler County Drainage Ordinance, applies only within the unincorporated area of the county and exists to reduce the effect of stormwater runoff moving from one lot to another and to provide positive drainage to outfall systems (Secs. 11-1 through 11-3). Before any lot clearing or grading, an owner or contractor must submit an illustration showing proposed building and lot elevations and the planned direction of stormwater flow, as part of the building permit application, submitted to the county engineer for approval (Sec.

11-6(a)). After construction, before the county building department will perform a final inspection, the owner or contractor must submit a final survey signed and sealed by a licensed Florida land surveyor showing setbacks, finished grading elevations at twenty-foot intervals along lot lines and roadside swales, invert elevations of pipes under driveways, and the direction of runoff, filed with the county engineer's office at least two working days before the final inspection request (Sec. 11-6(b), (c)). Owners or contractors must install required culverts and grade roadside swales to the cross-section the county engineer specifies, and must sod the right-of-way between the road pavement and the right-of-way line (Sec.

11-7). Lots must be graded so stormwater does not drain onto adjacent lots; ponding is not permitted except where it is part of a permitted mitigation system (Sec. 11-8). Once a certificate of occupancy issues, the property owner becomes responsible for maintaining the approved drainage pattern on the lot and the strip between the roadway and the right-of-way line, including mowing, erosion prevention and removing obstructions from stormwater flow (Sec. 11-9(a)). Single-family homes on lots of one acre or more can get a partial or full exemption from the survey requirements if the county engineer is satisfied runoff will not affect neighboring property, and homes on lots of five acres or more are exempt from the chapter entirely (Secs. 11-6(e), 11-10).