Possible to Build Pool in Flood Zone X (shaded)?

[DSMinAtlanta]

Hello,

We have been working with several pool builders over the last few months and they have all provided quotes and design ideas. See more info on that in this thread: Need Help Selecting a Pool Builder - Atlanta, GA

We also recently had a new property survey completed. I have included a portion of this survey below with a rough estimate of the pool location (blue rectangle). Until the survey was done, none of the builders had expressed any real concerns about building a pool in our backyard. We would be building next to a stormwater detention pond and a creek is at the back of our property but neither of these seemed to scare any of these builders away. In this new survey, it's showing the majority of our backyard in a Flood Zone X (shaded) which is defined as: "Flood Zone X (shaded) indicates an area where the annual flood risk is between 1% and 0.2%. This is considered a moderate risk."

Today two of the pool builders contacted us to say they would not be able to build a pool after all due to the flood zone. I called one of the other builders and after his company reviewed the survey claimed it would be "no problem" to proceed with the build. We also sent an email to the county for their permitting requirements. We are in the metro Atlanta area and more confused than ever given the mixed answers from builders. Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

The County is the final authority on this matter. The pool builders are interpreting the Countys requirements.

 

[HermanTX]

Flood plains can be tricky. I am surprised that was not highlighted when you purchased the home. Most insurance companies want confirmation of flood plans.
I would also be concerned about the BSL (building setback line), I be surprised if the county or the HOA (if applicable) would allow a pool to be built across the BSL.

 

[Bperry]

I wanted to build a shed in my backyard which has a detention pond drainage “path” which they told me no construction of any kind is allowed on 10’ either side of it. There might be similar restrictions in your area.

Separate possibly related info:
I also have a county subdivision restriction on buildings being closer than 35’ to the subdivision boundary, and a 10’ boundary required for property lines not on the subdivision boundary. Our property boundary is also the boundary for the subdivision so it kinda killed my plan for a large shed to park my mower.

 

[DSMinAtlanta]

Flood plains can be tricky. I am surprised that was not highlighted when you purchased the home. Most insurance companies want confirmation of flood plans.
I would also be concerned about the BSL (building setback line), I be surprised if the county or the HOA (if applicable) would allow a pool to be built across the BSL.

My rough sketch of the pool location does show some overlap with the BSL but we can make the pool work without crossing the BSL. There is no HOA to deal with. I suppose it will all come down to whether the county will allow it. Hopefully we can get some answers from them this week.

 

[DSMinAtlanta]

I wanted to build a shed in my backyard which has a detention pond drainage “path” which they told me no construction of any kind is allowed on 10’ either side of it. There might be similar restrictions in your area.

Separate possibly related info:
I also have a county subdivision restriction on buildings being closer than 35’ to the subdivision boundary, and a 10’ boundary required for property lines not on the subdivision boundary. Our property boundary is also the boundary for the subdivision so it kinda killed my plan for a large shed to park my mower.

Funny you mention a shed. The previous owners had a large shed in our backyard at the back right corner near the creek. We got rid of the shed to make room for the pool project (equipment access, tree removal, etc.). After the survey was completed, we realized that not only was the shed within the sewage and stormwater easement, it was also on our neighbors property this whole time. I'm glad we got rid of it.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Even if the county allows it, check with your insurance carrier. They will likely exclude anything built in a flood plan.

 

[AZRider]

I looked at my flood Zone. The county says we are in X (shaded). My neighhbor is building a pool now, no issues with permits. In fact I looked around the area and pretty much all of the Phoenix, AZ valley region is listed as X(shaded).

 

[DSMinAtlanta]

I got in touch with someone yesterday with the county planning and zoning department. He pulled up our plat and said Zone X was not high enough risk to prohibit a pool build. I asked why two builders had walked away and he said “they either don’t know better or they don’t want to put the work into getting the necessary approvals“. He said that as long as we comply with easement requirements and had a proper drainage plan then it should be possible. I sent a few emails to the county with the hope of getting something in writing.

 

[DSMinAtlanta]

Update: We heard back from a number of people with the county. Here is what we learned. The pool decking must "at least a foot above the 100 year flood elevation" which should be doable given where we want to place the pool. We will need the land surveyors to come back and stake the elevation in the yard so we know exactly what that means for the pool design. That of course will cost another $725 on top of the money we already spent on the survey but there's no way around it. Trees will be coming down last week of September now that we are still moving forward. That in itself is a huge undertaking as it is ~13 trees total and will take an entire week to complete the job.

 

[darkrider]

A foot of elevation absolutely should be doable, and in fact you'll have plenty of dirt available from the dig itself to build up the area for the decking. Just make sure that it is properly compacted for whatever decking material you use and has appropriate drainage. You could also consider a raised bond beam for the pool itself. Being at the bottom of a cul-de-sac that backs up to a creek and has a detention pond next to it as well, I absolutely love the raised bond beam on our pool, as it keeps any water from running off into our pool. The backside of our pool deck is a good 3' above our flood plain, and it had to be built up as well. We haven't experienced any settling or issues in the year since completion. The only other thing I would mention to consider is that they may need to overdig depth-wise slightly and backfill with granite stone if they hit the water table too early. They do this to slow water infiltration under the pool, and provide relief along with a hydrostatic vavle until the pool is filled. They hit the water table at probably 6 or 7' on our build, and our deep end is 9' deep.