Craighead County Floodplain Administrator (County Judge or designee; Floodplain Manager)

Floodplain Development Permit and Certificate of Compliance (Special Flood Hazard Areas, unincorporated Craighead County)

A business that builds, places fill, grades or otherwise develops a site in a Special Flood Hazard Area of unincorporated Craighead County needs a Floodplain Development Permit before the work, and a Certificate of Compliance before the development is used or occupied. Ordinance 24-15 (passed 6-24-2024 with an emergency clause) states in §4: "The ordinance shall apply to all Special Flood Hazard Areas within the jurisdiction of Craighead County." It adopts the Flood Damage Prevention Code for Craighead County, Arkansas, whose Art. 2 §A provides: "The County Judge of Craighead County, or his or her designee, is hereby appointed the Floodplain Administrator." Art. 2 §C states: "A Floodplain Development Permit is required for all structural development, placement of manufactured structures, clearing, grading, mining, drilling, dredging, placement of fill, excavating, watercourse alteration, drainage improvements, roadway or bridge construction, individual water or sewer installations or any other development in a Special Flood Hazard Area to ensure conformance with the provisions of this Code." The county's Application 2024, linked from its floodplain page, is headed "APPLICATION for ARKANSAS FLOODPLAIN DEVELOPMENT PERMIT (FEE $25.00)", offers "Non-Residential" and "Combined Use (Residential and Commercial)" structure types, and states: "The development may not be used or occupied until a Certificate of Compliance is issued." and "The permit will not be issued until any other necessary local, state, or federal permits have been obtained." Item 3 of the county's Permit Application Instructions 2024 states that "there will be a $25.00 application fee that will be paid to the Floodplain administrator in the form of cash or check." The $25.00 figure is as published on those two county forms. Contact the Floodplain Manager, Craighead County Annex, 511 Union, Room 5, Jonesboro, 870-933-4575.