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Salem Floodplain Ordinance

Posted on
June 20th at 2:54pm.

The Salem City Council will consider proposed changes to the city’s floodplain ordinance at their Thursday June 22nd meeting. The first proposal is to update the existing Flood Hazard Overlay District (FHOD), which corresponds to areas which have a 1% annual chance of flooding based on current FEMA mapping. The second proposal is to implement a Climate Resiliency Overlay District C-ROD which takes into account future sea level rise and storm event modelling.

The updated Flood Hazard Overlay District would do the following:

  • Have the Building Commissioner be the designated Floodplain Administrator
  • Establish requirements for technical data submitted to FEMA
  • Create a system to notify property owners regarding building code flood elevation variances

Note: New development or major renovations in FHOD would still require a special permit from the Planning Board

The Climate Resiliency Overlay district will utilize the 2070 Future Flood Model, which accounts for the increased likelihood of flooding due to projected rising sea levels. As expected, the C-ROD contains all the FHOD, with a significant amount of additional area. The applicability thresholds in the C-ROD are:

  • All new construction of residential buildings
  • Major renovation/new construction of non-residential buildings
  • Major renovation of residential buildings with 6 or more units

Note: Major renovation of residential buildings with 5 or fewer units would not trigger the new permitting requirements in the C-ROD.

The C-ROD design standards would require the lowest occupiable floor for residential uses to be at or above the Sea Level Rise Design Flood Elevation (SLR-FE). The SLR-FE is proposed to be set to one foot above the top water elevation predicted by the 2070 future flood model. Permitted uses below the SLR-FE include residential circulation, storage, and parking with the required flood proofing.

Historic properties within the C-ROD may apply for a waiver through a special permit process. In addition, a general waiver would be available through the Planning Board review. Those applying for a general waiver must demonstrate a high burden of proof.

Updates will be posted on the NSR blog.