City staff issues interim guidance on home and condo flood panels, warns of life‑safety and insurance risks

City of Naples Building Director Steve Beckman told the City Council workshop on Feb. 18 that property owners may be able to add removable or bolted flood panels as a voluntary mitigation measure in certain older buildings—but only after an engineering evaluation and a life‑safety review.

“From Ian alone, almost a $150,000,000 in paid claims,” Beckman said, citing recent storm losses as the urgency behind the guidance. He said state and federal rules limit how much such work can be used to change a building’s compliance status, and that the city has posted interim guidance while it refines permit steps.

Why it matters: thousands of Naples homeowners and condominium associations are weighing whether to buy and install flood barriers ahead of hurricane season. City staff said improper installation, overlooked leak points, or using panels above the building’s structural capacity can worsen damage, create life‑safety hazards, and could expose the city to higher National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) community‑rating consequences.

Beckman outlined a three‑part threshold for permitting: the proposed mitigation combined with any other work must not be a “substantial improvement” (keeping total work under the 50% threshold used in the NFIP…