Elevation Certificates in Foster City, CA

Foster City is a levee city. Its levee wraps most of the outer bayfront perimeter, and the city's flood status rests on FEMA continuing to accredit it. According to the city's levee project site, FEMA determined in 2014 that the levee system did not meet minimum requirements for flood protection. To keep accreditation and keep properties out of the flood zone, voters approved Measure P in 2018, a $90 million general obligation bond. Construction began in October 2020 and the contractor reached final completion in February 2024, raising and widening the levee and adding a wall in many sections. The city says the as-built levee provides resilience against the 100-year flood, including stillwater and wave runup, with 3 feet of sea level rise, and that elevations along the new trail are generally at least four feet above the current 100-year bay water level.

The paperwork with FEMA is the part that matters for owners. The city's FAQ says that in February 2024 it submitted a Letter of Map Revision request based on the as-built levee, asking FEMA to return the flood hazard classification inside city limits to moderate risk, Zone X protected by levee, and that the process could take six months to a year or more. The city also states that flood insurance will continue to be non-mandatory for federally backed mortgages. Check the current FIRM and any LOMR on FEMA's Map Service Center for your address before deciding what you need. Flood barriers at the Egress bridge, Baffin Bridge, and south of the San Mateo Bridge are part of the system too.

Many Foster City owners order an elevation certificate even in a levee-protected zone, because it documents exactly how the building sits relative to the base flood if mapping ever changes. Our field work ties a benchmark on the FIRM's vertical datum with GNSS, then measures the lowest adjacent grade, lowest floor, garage, and machinery and utilities with a Trimble S3 total station. We photograph the building per FEMA instructions and deliver a signed FEMA elevation certificate. Where a structure is mapped inside an SFHA but sits above the BFE, we can prepare LOMA data and file through eLOMA. Foster City work is scheduled as a mobilization from Lotus. See our elevation certificate service and the San Mateo and Redwood City pages.