Improvements for flood zone AE on potential property
My business partner currently lease the property for our business but we are looking to purchase some land to build on.  One piece of property is perfect for our needs, but a little over half of the land is in either regulatory flood zone (I know we can't build on this) or flood zone AE.  I know that local zoning laws will weigh in heavily on this question, but I wanted to see if anybody can share their experience with building in flood zone AE.  Specifically, are we able to improve the site to raise the elevation of the property in the AE flood zone above the flood zone or is that typically not allowed? I know we will have to hire an engineer to do a site plan for us, but I wanted some general advice before we make an offer or hire an engineer.
[{"id": "hnusrz3", "text": "I would hire a consultant for a code review and for a flood zone review. Do you have elevation certs? Do you know how much you'd need to build up the site with fill to elevate it above the flood zone?\n\nI'm currently waiting on a LOMA which will hopefully remove 4 structures from AE zone bc it clips the corner of each bldg. There is another option to submit a plan to infill and \"raise the site\" to bring it out of the flood zone. But if half the property is on a flood zone....that could get v expensive v quick.\n\nAlso, good luck with insurance....gonna be hefty premium.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hnut2rm", "text": "If you can get the site raised high enough you can get an elevation survey showing its out of the flood zone.  Then you have to submit it to the Army Corp of engineers (your lender can do this through their flood department) to get it removed from the federal flood maps.  Be aware though, flood maps are not forever and they do get updated which might put you right back in the flood zone because most of the maps were overly conservative (plus 50 years of growth has changed drainage and runoff patterns).", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hnuztgx", "text": "Speak to an engineer and read about the FEMA Letter of Map Revision process (MT-2). You can raise your site and have your engineer do hydraulic analysis to prove that the site has little chance of flooding. Ultimately, you can remove the site from the Flood Map and you will get better premiums on Flood Insurance and/or you won\u2019t be required to have it.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hobun5y", "text": "If you need to recapture the floodplain to make the lot viable, the most critical aspect is understanding(as you noted) whether you can build in the floodplain, but just as important, what the local floodplain administrator requires as far as a floodplain fill permit. \n\nIt\u2019s generally not as simple as hauling in a bunch of fill until you\u2019re out of the FP. The ones I\u2019ve done require hydrology studies and other cuts elsewhere on the site to offset the water that will be displaced from the filled area in the event of a flood. Usually, that model needs to prove that you filling in your site won\u2019t adversely affect properties upstream.\n\nLastly, you\u2019re dealing with FEMA, so just mentally prepare yourself for a 3 month process to turn to 6-9 or longer if there\u2019s any kind of comments/revisions requested to your submittal.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]