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Special Management Areas

Special Management Areas

Special management areas contain resources that require regulatory restrictions to preserve local ecology and prevent damage due to flooding. DuPage County recognizes floodplain, wetlands and buffers to be special management areas regulated under the Ordinance. Development in special management areas require additional documentation before a building permit may be granted.

Floodplain

The floodplain is the area typically adjacent to and including a body of water where ground surface elevations are at or below a specified flood elevation. Floods pose a variety of hazards to life and property. Flooding, especially repetitive flooding, takes a toll on people's health, taxpayers’ burden for flood-damaged public facilities and utilities and flood rescue and relief operations. Floodplain management is necessary to develop regulated restrictions and construction measures that minimize the risk to life and property from floods and the risk to the floodplain’s natural functions posed by development.

Wetlands

Wetlands are areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands are protected by both federal and local regulations, governed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and DuPage County.

Buffers

Buffers are predominantly vegetated areas with a defined width adjacent to those areas that meet the definition of wetlands and Waters of DuPage for the purpose of eliminating or minimizing adverse impacts to those areas.

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