Citrus County, FL Hurricane Preparedness: Flood Elevation (2026)

Where a Citrus County flood hazard area has no mapped base flood elevation, an approximate Zone A, Sec. 18-199(b)(3)b lets the floodplain administrator set the design elevation at two feet above the highest adjacent grade at the site, unless the evidence shows flood depths could run higher. Once a project has that elevation, Sec. 18-200 makes proving compliance a two-step certification process for buildings, structures and facilities that the Florida Building Code exempts. At the placement of the lowest floor, including a basement, and before any further vertical construction, the owner or their agent must submit either a certification of the lowest floor's elevation sealed by a Florida-licensed professional surveyor, if a design flood elevation was used, or documentation of the lowest floor's height above the highest adjacent grade, prepared by the owner, if the two-foot default method applied instead.

Subsection (e) requires the same certification again at final inspection. Manufactured homes get their own version of the rule: once one is placed or replaced in a flood hazard area, Sec. 18-200(f) requires certification of the lowest floor's elevation before the floodplain administrator signs off. Elevation numbers also drive the county's variance process: Sec. 18-201(h)(4) requires the floodplain administrator to give any applicant seeking to build a lowest floor below the base flood elevation written notice of the gap between the two elevations and a warning that federal flood insurance on that structure can cost as much as $25 for every $100 of coverage.