Longboat Key Commission votes to allow additional freeboard with possible expansion
Town commissioners debated over how much optional freeboard to allow after a change in FEMA flood maps changed for Sarasota County.
At the April 1 regular meeting, Longboat Key town commissioners voted to pass an ordinance allowing for property owners to include up to 3 feet of freeboard — two optional feet on top of the required 1 foot.
An option to allow two more feet of freeboard — 4 feet total — was also on the table, but commissioners needed more research and development for that ordinance.
Base flood elevation (BFE) is the estimated level of surface water expected during a 100-year base flood event. Freeboard is a safety feature of floodplain management and is added on top of the BFE height to equal a property’s design flood elevation.
The Planning, Zoning and Building Department proposed an ordinance that would allow for an additional 2 feet of freeboard.
In January, Planning, Zoning, & Building Director Allen Parsons presented the new flood control maps for Sarasota County as prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Those maps generally had a decrease of 2 feet of base flood elevation recommendations across the town.
FEMA regularly updates the maps, and Manatee County received its own set of updates in 2021. Those maps showed a similar decrease, according to Parsons.
What is “freeboard”?
