Arlington Heights, IL Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Chapter 15 was adopted under the Village's home rule police powers, citing 65 ILCS 5/1-2-1, 5/11-12-12, 5/11-30-2, 5/11-30-8, and 5/11-31-2, to keep Arlington Heights eligible for the National Flood Insurance Program and to meet FEMA's regulations at 44 CFR 59-79 (Section 15-101). Section 15-106(a) bars anyone, including a governmental body not exempted by law, from starting development in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) without a development permit from the Director of Engineering, and the same permit requirement runs through Section 15-107 for designated floodways and Section 15-108 for SFHAs where no floodway has been mapped.

Applications must include scaled site drawings sealed by a licensed engineer, architect, or land surveyor, existing and proposed grade elevations tied to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988, the location and elevation of every proposed building's lowest floor, and a soil erosion and sediment control plan; floodway applications additionally need a registered professional engineer's review and, for larger changes, an IDNR/OWR permit or conditional floodway-map approval before construction starts. The SFHAs covering Buffalo Creek, McDonald Creek and its branches, and the Salt Creek-Arlington Heights Branch are identified on specific FEMA panel numbers for the Village and for the extraterritorial Cook County area the Village may annex.

5 times the excavated volume, and floodway work is limited to 'Appropriate Uses' listed under 17 Ill. Adm. Code Part 3708, such as utilities, bridges, and flood-control structures, none of which may raise the base flood elevation. Variances are never available for a designated floodway (Section 15-111).