Leominster, MA Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

City Code § 22-34 establishes Leominster's Floodplain district (FP) as an overlay on top of every other zoning district, covering all special flood hazard areas mapped as zone A or AE on the Worcester County Flood Insurance Rate Map dated July 8, 2025 and defined further by the accompanying Flood Insurance Study, both incorporated into the ordinance by reference and kept on file with the city clerk, planning board, building commissioner and conservation commission. 3 designates the building commissioner as the city's official floodplain administrator, the officer responsible for administering the district's permit requirements.

4 requires a special permit for essentially any development activity inside the overlay: new construction, changes to existing buildings, placement of manufactured homes, placement of agricultural facilities, fences, sheds, storage facilities, and drilling, mining or paving, along with any other activity that could increase flooding or worsen flood risk to other properties. An applicant has to secure every other required local, state and federal permit before the floodplain permit can issue, and submit a site plan from a Massachusetts registered professional engineer showing existing and proposed topography, lowest floor elevations for new or expanded buildings, and engineering certification that the proposed work will not raise the flood level during a hundred-year flood.

Within ten days of an application, the planning board circulates the plan to the conservation commission, department of public works, board of health and director of inspections, and cannot take final action until those boards report back or thirty-five days pass. Encroachments into a designated regulatory floodway are barred outright unless hydraulic analysis shows no increase in flood levels.