Bloomington, IL Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Bloomington City Code Chapter 18, the Floodplain Area Development Code, applies to land within the special flood hazard areas shown on the McLean County Flood Insurance Rate Map dated July 16, 2008, including areas along Sugar Creek, Little Kickapoo Creek, Skunk Creek and Goose Creek, plus floodplains in unincorporated McLean County within the City's extraterritorial jurisdiction. Under § 18-501, no person, firm, corporation, or governmental body not exempted by state law may commence 'development,' defined broadly to include construction, filling, grading, excavating, paving, drilling, mining, dredging, or installing utilities, roads, levees, dams, or storage tanks, without first obtaining a development permit from the City's Engineering Department.

The Director of Engineering compares the site's elevation to the base flood elevation before issuing a permit, and applications must include scale drawings, existing and proposed grade elevations, building locations and dimensions, and the proposed lowest-floor elevation. The Director will not issue a permit unless the proposal meets the damage-prevention standards of Article VI, which generally bar development that would increase flood heights or velocities, and the building-protection standards of Article VII. Land shown by survey to have already been above the base flood elevation as of the site's first Flood Insurance Rate Map date is not treated as floodplain and falls outside the permit requirement. Anyone who disagrees with the mapped data may finance a detailed engineering study and submit it to FEMA for approval of better data.