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Highland Park staff recommend ending city‑specific flood‑plain limits
Summary
City staff and consultants told the Committee of the Whole on April 13 that Highland Park should discontinue its separate local flood‑plain limits and rely on FEMA, IDNR and Lake County standards; staff said about 600 parcels would be removed from the local map and will draft formal action and public outreach for a future council meeting.
On April 13, 2026, the Highland Park Committee of the Whole heard a flood‑plain assessment in which Civiltech consultant Joey Abronson recommended the city discontinue its Highland Park–specific flood‑plain limits and rely instead on FEMA, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Lake County Watershed Development Ordinance.
The recommendation, presented by Abronson and introduced by City Manager Newkirk and Director of Public Works Ron Bannon, is intended to reduce regulatory duplication and operational confusion caused by having both a local flood‑plain map and the FEMA baseline map. Abronson said the city map is substantially more expansive in parts of the Skokie River valley and estimated about 600 parcels fall inside Highland Park’s…
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