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International House of Pancakes Elevates New Restaurant

Full Mitigation Best Practice Story


Placer County, California

Roseville, CA – The City of Roseville has experienced repetitive flooding in 1986, 1995, and 1997 from several small creeks. Damages from the 1986 floods were extensive and severe. After witnessing the effects of this flood event, one of the local business owners embarked on a significant mitigation project to protect his business property and to meet the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) requirements to raise the finished floor above the base flood elevation in a floodplain.

A new construction project, the International House of Pancakes (IHOP), was planned for a piece of property situated between two creeks in the City of Roseville. The owner had the property for 20 years and knew it was in the floodplain. A market analysis indicated that property values in the area for business were high and rather than convert the site to a park or unoccupied space, the owner decided to build 4 ft. above the base flood elevation level. The restaurant was constructed over parking garage space and the generators were elevated 6 ft.

Elevation of the IHOP restaurant has resulted in several benefits to the daily business. The business is more visible and therefore attracts customers. The parking garage is valuable and will become more so over time. The elevation gives the building owner peace of mind. In his words, "There is an initial price to pay but in the long term, when the potential catastrophic effects are looked at, it is a sound investment. The most important consideration is safety, then economics."

Activity/Project Location

Geographical Area: Single County in a State
FEMA Region: Region IX
State: California
County: Placer County

Key Activity/Project Information

Sector: Private
Hazard Type: Flooding
Activity/Project Type: Building Codes
Structure Type: Wood Frame
Activity/Project Start Date: 09/1995
Activity/Project End Date: 04/1998
Funding Source: Business Owner; Other Federal Agencies (OFA)
Funding Recipient: Business/Industry
Funding Recipient Name: building owner

Activity/Project Economic Analysis

Cost: Amount Not Available

Activity/Project Disaster Information

Mitigation Resulted From Federal Disaster? No
Value Tested By Disaster? No
Repetitive Loss Property? No


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Main Points

  • The City of Roseville has experienced repetitive flooding in 1986, 1995, and 1997 from several small creeks. After witnessing the effects from these floods, one of the local business owners embarked on a significant mitigation project to protect his business property.
  • Property designated for a new construction project was known to be in the floodplain. A market analysis indicated that property values in the area for business were high and rather than convert the site to a park or unoccupied space, the owner decided to build 4 ft. above the base flood elevation level. The restaurant was constructed over parking garage space and the generators were elevated 6 ft.
  • Elevation of the IHOP restaurant has resulted in several benefits to the daily business. The business is more visible and therefore attracts customers. The parking garage is valuable and will become more so over time. The elevation gives the building owner peace of mind.

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Last Updated: Sep 13, 2007