Forms
Applicants desiring any type of development on land that is affected by the regulatory floodplain must fill out the attached SFHA development application form, save it to their computer and email it to the City’s Floodplain Manager for review and approval prior to the issuance of a grading or building permit.
It is advisable to contact the City’s Floodplain Manager to verify if additional documentation is required to be submitted. For a list of possible supportive documents see the Development Procedures in the Floodplain section.
Instructions for the SFHA Application Form
- Name of Applicant: name of the developer or owner of the property who ordered the design of the development project.
- Address and contact information of the Applicant: these information is of the owner of the property or the developer (this person might be different from the person submitting the application)
- Engineer of record: the person certifying the validity of the submitted engineering content of the form. This person is usually the design engineer (Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Arkansas) of the development project. We also accept a licensed professional surveyor in the State of Arkansas.
- Address or legal description of the development: list the legal address of the property. If that is not feasible describe the location by tying it with distance and direction to known physical point of references (nearby roads, intersections, bodies of water, etc.)
- Brief description of the development proposal: describe the proposed development project. If feasible, list the length and limits of the project area as well
- Base Flood Elevation: the highest BFE of the covered area by the project proposal must be listed here
- Minimum Finished Floor Elevation: related to the first floor of the structure. If the building is of multiple stories list the finished floor elevation of the first floor here.
- Elevation of Floodproofing: floodproofing may be required for non-residential structures, or electively used on residential structures as well. This elevation is for the lowest elevation of floodproofing on the lowest floor of the structure.
- If different datum is used for the above listed elevation than the listed NGVD 1927 the actual datum must be listed by the provided elevation information.
- Applicant’s signature: the Applicant (owner or developer) of the project must sign this field upon submittal to our office. Applicant’s representative may also sign here, if that is noted as such here.
Applicants required to submit an Elevation Certificate with the approval of the City’s Floodplain Manager may use the attached form.
See the Development Procedures in the Floodplain Area and Elevation Certificates sections for additional information on cases where Elevation Certificates may be required.
Please fill out the Elevation Certificate Form, save it to your computer and forward the pdf file in an email with supporting documentation to the City’s Floodplain Manager for review.
The instructions provided by FEMA must be followed carefully.
Please read the instructions for all relevant sections. Additionally, the following apply:
- A2 or A3: information for either of these fields must be provided, applicable to the location of the structure.
- A4: describe the current use of the structure as accurately as possible
- A5: the instructions provided by FEMA on the format of the Latitude and Longitude listed here must be closely followed. Additionally one of the provided datum must be selected. These fields are mandatory to provide information on.
- A7: building type diagrams are shown on page 17-19 of the instruction
- A8 and A9: both of these sections are mandatory to populate. If the information would not apply by the type of the structure “N/A” must be listed as the answer.
- Section B: information for this section can be found on the applicable FIRM panel FEMA Flood Map Service Center
- B4: Map/Panel No. is listed in the title block of the FIRM as a ten (10) digit code. The letter “C” in the middle indicates that the map is a countywide mapping format. It signifies the map covers all jurisdictions within a specific county, rather than just one city or town. Omit suffix designation from here.
- B6 and B7: Please note the difference between the FIRM Index and the FIRM Panel. The FIRM Index (Flood Insurance Rate Map Index) is a guiding document that acts as a map of maps, illustrating how individual FIRM panels fit together to cover a community. It is used to identify the correct FIRM panel number needed to determine the specific flood risk and zone for a location.
- The Building Address information on top of each page must be provided up to the page containing section G.
- C1: one of the options must be selected.
- C2. a) – h): elevation for items a) f) and g) must always be provided. Items b) – h) depends on the type of building. An elevation is required for C2.h) if an attached deck or stairs is present as part of the building.
- Utilize the comment section at section D for any additional items or information.
- Notice the Zone designations for section E. Information in this section is only required if the property is located in one of the listed zones.
- If Section E is used complete Section F.
- The form is only valid and acceptable by FEMA if the Floodplain Manager of the community provides information for G8 and G11.e City’s Floodplain Manager for review and approval prior to the issuance of a grading or building permit.
Section 60.3(d)(3) of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations states that a community shall “prohibit encroachments, including fill, new construction, substantial improvements and other development within the adopted regulatory floodway unless it has been demonstrated through hydrologic and hydraulic analyses performed in accordance with standard engineering practice that the proposed encroachment would not result in any increase in flood levels within the community during the occurrence of the base (100-year) flood discharge.”
Prior to issuing any grading, building or development permits involving activities in a regulatory floodway the City must obtain a certification stating the proposed development will not impact the pre-project Base Flood Elevations, floodway elevations, or floodway data widths. The certification must be signed by a professional engineer licensed in the State of Arkansas and supported with technical data, based on two (2) separate analyses:
- Step-backwater analysis and
- Conveyance compensation analysis.
The engineering No-Rise Certification and-supporting technical data must stipulate NO impact on the 100-year flood elevations, floodway elevations, or floodway widths at the new cross-sections and at all existing cross-sections anywhere in the model. Therefore, the computer model should be run for a sufficient distance (usually one (1) mile, depending on hydraulic slope of the stream) upstream and downstream of the development site to ensure proper “no-rise” condition.