Published
St. Anthony’s FEMA flood map status: a 1974 boundary map, a 1990 rate map, and what federal law requires
One row in a federal book
FEMA tracks every participating floodplain community in a public register, and St. Anthony’s entry carries community identification number CID 160062. The row reads:
| Status Book column | St. Anthony, City of (CID 160062) |
|---|---|
| Init FHBM Identified | 06/28/1974 |
| Init FIRM Identified | 08/15/1990 |
| Curr Eff Map Date | 08/15/1990 |
| Reg-Emer Date | 08/15/1990 |
Three honest caveats belong next to that table. First, the copy we verified is the Idaho-hosted edition of the status book, dated 01/23/2018 — the historical dates it records do not rotate, but confirm current status with FEMA before relying on it for anything time-sensitive. Second, the current-effective date prints with a map-type marker in the original whose legend did not render legibly in any copy we could pull, so we print the date and leave the marker out rather than guess at it. Third, the county around the city is a separate NFIP community with its own row and its own dates — if your land is outside city limits, read the county’s flood-map story on our excavation site instead.
Two maps, sixteen years apart
The row tells a two-act story. In 1974, FEMA’s predecessor identified the city’s flood hazard areas on a Flood Hazard Boundary Map — the FHBM, a boundary sketch with no elevation detail. In 1990, the city received a Flood Insurance Rate Map — the FIRM, the document that actually sets insurance rates and lender determinations. Per the status book, that August 15, 1990 map is still the current effective product for the city: no newer city FIRM has replaced it in this register. A town whose rate map is a 1990 artifact is a town where flood questions are answered from aging engineering — and where the answer deserves checking, not assuming.
Why your address won’t look itself up
Modern flood-zone checks lean on FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer — the digital map behind the Map Service Center. For this city, that well runs dry. We queried the NFHL’s panel layer directly on October 5, 2026, and it returned zero flood-hazard panels for the city’s map ID (160062C) — no digitized layer exists to search. To prove that zero means the city and not our query, the same request against a fully mapped county (Ada) returned 92 panels.
The practical consequence: a St. Anthony address cannot be resolved to a flood zone by the nationwide digital map. Determinations fall back on the paper-era FIRM panels and on the paperwork routes that surround them — the process our sister site maps end to end in why you can’t look up a flood zone online. The city’s own view of its flood ground, meanwhile, is the hazards chapter of its comprehensive plan.
What federal law requires of the city
Participation is not passive. The regulation that sets minimum duties for mapped communities without elevation data is 44 CFR 60.3(b), and its core order is a permitting rule:
“Require permits for all proposed construction and other developments including the placement of manufactured homes, within Zone A on the community’s FHBM or FIRM”
— 44 CFR 60.3(b)(1), Code of Federal Regulations. Retrieved 5 October 2026
Zone A is the designation for special flood hazard areas where base flood elevations have not been computed — exactly the profile of a 1990-boundary, no-digital-data community. If your lot falls in a Zone A on the city’s FIRM, your construction starts with a floodplain development permit, not just a building permit — the same lesson as the zoning-first rule, one layer deeper.
The same regulation reaches subdivision proposals with a numbers test that surprises people:
“Require that all new subdivision proposals and other proposed developments (including proposals for manufactured home parks and subdivisions) greater than 50 lots or 5 acres, whichever is the lesser, include within such proposals base flood elevation data”
— 44 CFR 60.3(b)(3), Code of Federal Regulations. Retrieved 5 October 2026
Five acres, six lots, two rulebooks
Idaho lets a landowner record a short plat of six lots or fewer through a modest county process. The federal flood rule does not care about the state’s shortcut: once a proposal is greater than 50 lots or 5 acres — whichever is less — it must carry base flood elevation data. A six-lot family plat on six acres can sail through the county’s subdivision rules and still trip this federal threshold, because anything over 5 acres (or over 50 lots) brings the flood rule with it. And below that threshold, 60.3(b) has a catch-all: the community must “obtain, review and reasonably utilize” any base flood elevation data available from any federal, state, or other source, and where such data is used, must record the elevation of the lowest floor of new and substantially improved structures.
Before you build on a mapped lot
- Get the FIRM panel, not a guess. With no digital layer for the city, the paper FIRM and its index are the source of truth — and the lender route in the Ashton flood-lookup guide applies to paper-map communities like this one.
- Know your zone letter. Zone A on the city’s FIRM triggers the 60.3(b) permit duty; a determination outside special flood hazard areas changes the insurance question entirely.
- Count your acres against 5. Subdividing more than 50 lots or 5 acres adds a base-flood-elevation data requirement to the plat, regardless of the state’s six-lot shortcut.
- Check which government owns your land’s row. City limits put you in CID 160062’s territory; outside them you are in the county’s separate community — start with city limits or county jurisdiction, then the county page above.
- Stack the permits in order. Floodplain permit, then zoning, then building — bring the address and we will trace it: (208) 656-1745.
The flood map is one layer of the site’s stack: the hazards plan gathers them, the storm-water rules govern what leaves your lot, and the address requirement is where every permit chain starts.
Common questions
Is St. Anthony in the National Flood Insurance Program?
Yes. The City of St. Anthony is an NFIP participant, community identification number CID 160062. The FEMA Community Status Book records its initial Flood Insurance Rate Map as August 15, 1990, with the same date in the Reg-Emer column - the copy we verified is dated 01/23/2018.
How old is St. Anthony's flood map?
FEMA first identified the city's flood hazard areas on a Flood Hazard Boundary Map dated 06/28/1974. The Flood Insurance Rate Map - the map that governs rates and lender determinations - is dated August 15, 1990, and still carries that current-effective date in the status book we checked.
Can I look up my flood zone online for a St. Anthony address?
Not through the nationwide digital map. We queried FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer directly on October 5, 2026: zero flood-hazard panels exist for the city's map ID 160062C, while a control query for Ada County returned 92. Determinations for city addresses fall back on paper FIRM panels.
What is the difference between an FHBM and a FIRM?
The Flood Hazard Boundary Map (St. Anthony's dated 06/28/1974) sketches where flood hazard areas are, without elevation detail. The Flood Insurance Rate Map (dated 08/15/1990) is the engineering product that assigns zones and sets insurance requirements. In this city, both dates still stand in the status book.
What is CID 160062?
It is FEMA's community identification number for the City of St. Anthony in the National Flood Insurance Program. Lenders and insurance agents use the CID to tie a property to the right community's flood maps and rules. Fremont County is a separate community with its own CID and its own map dates.
Do I need a permit to build in a flood zone in St. Anthony?
Federal regulation 44 CFR 60.3(b)(1) requires participating communities to 'require permits for all proposed construction and other developments including the placement of manufactured homes, within Zone A on the community's FHBM or FIRM.' If your lot sits in Zone A on the city's 1990 FIRM, a floodplain development permit comes first.
Does subdividing land trigger a federal flood rule?
Yes, at a low threshold. 44 CFR 60.3(b)(3) requires that subdivision proposals greater than 50 lots or 5 acres, whichever is less, include base flood elevation data. A six-lot plat on just over five acres can meet that threshold even while qualifying for Idaho's short-plat process.
Does Fremont County use the same flood map as St. Anthony?
No. The county is a separate NFIP community with its own identification number and its own map dates. Land outside city limits follows the county's flood mapping - our excavation site covers the county's flood map in detail.
Is a 1990 flood map still legally binding?
As of the status book copy we verified (dated 01/23/2018), the August 15, 1990 map remains the current effective product for the city, and paper-era FIRMs remain the legal basis for determinations in communities without digital layers. Confirm current status with FEMA before relying on any single date.
Why did my lender say I need flood insurance?
Federal lending rules require flood insurance for federally backed loans on structures in special flood hazard areas, determined from the community's effective FIRM - here, the 1990 map. Because the city has no digitized flood layer, the determination runs on paper-era panels; our Ashton site walks through the lookup and amendment routes.
What elevation records does the city have to keep?
Where base flood elevation data is utilized, 44 CFR 60.3(b)(5) requires the community to obtain the elevation of the lowest floor - including basement - of all new and substantially improved structures, plus floodproofing elevations where applicable, and to maintain a record of that information.