Pope County, AR Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Pope County Code § 285.00, adopted as Ordinance 2005-006 and amended by Ordinances 2009-064, 2012-004 and 2019-011, is the county's Flood Damage Prevention Code, enacted under the authority Arkansas gives counties at A.C.A. §§ 14-268-101 et seq. to minimize flood losses. The Ordinance applies to all Special Flood Hazard Areas within Pope County's jurisdiction, mapped by FEMA in the Flood Insurance Study for Pope County dated July 21, 2017, with an effective Flood Insurance Rate Map dated March 21, 2019. It restricts or prohibits structures and uses within those Special Flood Hazard Areas that would adversely affect health, safety or property during flooding, requires flood protection for any structure built, substantially improved or substantially damaged after the effective date, and controls floodplain development activity such as clearing, grading, mining, drilling, dredging, fill placement, excavation, drainage work and roadway or bridge construction.

The county adopted a companion technical document, the Flood Damage Prevention Code for Pope County, Arkansas dated March 21, 2019, by reference, organized into an Article 1 on definitions, an Article 2 on administration and an Article 3 on flood hazard reduction provisions; a copy is kept on file with the Floodplain Administrator for public inspection during normal office hours. Anyone constructing, locating, substantially altering, or changing the use of a structure or parcel after the ordinance's effective date must comply fully with it and with any other applicable regulation, and the requirements are treated as minimums, construed liberally in the county's favor.

The Floodplain Administrator enforces compliance and can issue cease-and-desist orders, issue citations, or ask FEMA to deny flood insurance to a noncompliant property through a Section 1316 action.