Little Rock, AR Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Sec. 13-55 requires a floodplain development permit for structural development, placing manufactured structures, clearing, grading, mining, drilling, dredging, placing fill, excavating, altering a watercourse, drainage improvements, roadway or bridge construction, or individual water or sewer installations in a special flood hazard area. Sec. 13-56 sends applications to the floodplain administrator, appointed under Sec. 13-53 as the mayor or a designee, on forms that include scaled plans showing existing and proposed structures and their elevation relative to the hazard area; what documentation is required depends on the flood risk zone and the type of project.

A denied or disputed permit goes to the designated appeal board, which under Sec. 13-58 is the city's own board of directors, but that board can only consider alleged errors in the floodplain administrator's decisions and its rulings bind only the city's own code, not a lender's separate flood-insurance requirements; anyone still unhappy can appeal further to a court of competent jurisdiction. Sec. 13-59's general standards apply to every development in a special flood hazard area regardless of risk zone: new construction and substantial improvements must be anchored against flotation, collapse and lateral movement, built with flood-damage-resistant materials, and critical facilities must either exceed 500-year flood protection standards or sit entirely outside the hazard area.

Basement foundations are prohibited outright in any special flood hazard area. Enclosed areas below the lowest floor, such as garages or crawlspaces, must equalize floodwater pressure through at least two openings on separate walls, sized to at least one square inch of net area per square foot of enclosed space, with the lowest opening no higher than one foot above grade. Variance petitions under Sec. 13-57 must show good cause, no adverse impact on other lands, no added public-safety threat, no extraordinary public expense, and must be the minimum relief necessary; a variance inside a regulatory floodway additionally needs a no-rise certificate from an Arkansas-licensed engineer.