Hazard Mitigation

The city’s zoning code includes regulations to reduce flood and coastal storm hazard risks.

Its Floodplain Management Regulations exceed the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s minimum requirements (Appendix A §11). These regulations require all new and rehabilitated structures to be elevated at least three feet above base flood elevations. It also prohibits critical facilities in the 500-year floodplain.

It also establishes a Coastal Protection Overlay Zone to protect oceanfront property within the 50-year erosion control line (Appendix A §1802). It prohibits all new habitable or erosion control structures within this zone.