FLOODPLAIN DEVELOPEMENT PERMIT

The Building Commission guides development in flood hazard areas in order to reduce the potential for loss of life and property, reduce the potential for health and safety hazards, and reduce the potential for extraordinary public expenditures for flood protection and relief.  Both the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County have taken into account the effects of flooding and adopted floodplain management regulations.

Key Objectives of Floodplain Management Regulations

• Prevent unwise developments from increasing flood or drainage hazards to others.
• Protect new buildings and major improvements to buildings from flood damage.
• Protect human life and health from the hazards of flooding.
• Lessen the burden on the taxpayer for flood control projects, repairs to flood-damaged public facilities and utilities, and flood rescue and relief operations.
• Maintain property values and a stable tax base by minimizing the potential for creating flood-blighted areas.
• Make Federally subsidized flood insurance available for structures and their contents in the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County by fulfilling the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program.

Building Commission's Role  

• Maintain floodplain management documents and maps.
• Assist citizens with questions concerning floodplain locations and insurance requirements.
• Assist citizens in filing for exemptions and other related floodplain documentation.
• Work closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources concerning floodplain regulation and program requirements.
• Assist in public outreach concerning the risks of flooding.
• Prepare floodplain related damage assessment documentation in the event of flooding.

A Floodplain Development Permit

A Floodplain Development Permit shall be required in conformance with the provisions of this ordinance prior to the commencement of any development activities in areas of special flood hazard.

“Development” means any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate including but not limited to:

(1)    construction, reconstruction, or placement of a structure or any addition to a structure;

(2)    installing a manufactured home on a site, preparing a site for a manufactured home or installing a recreational vehicle on a site for more than 180 days;

(3)    installing utilities, erection of walls and fences, construction of roads, or similar projects;

(4)    construction of flood control structures such as levees, dikes, dams, channel improvements, etc.;

(5)    mining, dredging, filling, grading, excavation, or drilling operations;

(6)    construction and/or reconstruction of bridges or culverts;

(7)    storage of materials; or

(8)    any other activity that might change the direction, height, or velocity of flood or surface waters.

"Development" does not include activities such as the maintenance of existing structures and facilities such as painting, re-roofing; resurfacing roads; or gardening, plowing, and similar agricultural practices that do not involve filling, grading, excavation, or the construction of permanent structures.

To Apply for a Floodplain Development Permit, Click Here

*Fill out the form and email the completed form to permit@evansville.in.gov 

I am Looking for...

• Online GIS Floodplain Property Information for Vanderburgh County
• Floodplain Terms and Definitions 
• Regulatory Flood Elevation 
• Requirements for Elevation Certification
• Requirements for Building in the Floodplain
• Requirements for Preventing Increased Damages 
• Requirements for Building Protection and Other Development 
• Information on the National Flood Insurance Program 
• Links to Stream Gauges for Indiana Waterways
• https://www.floodsmart.gov/