Ocean City, a low-lying barrier island, is vulnerable to flooding from coastal storms.
Ocean City is responding to new state regulations that will require homes and businesses to be built higher to protect them from flooding caused by rising sea levels.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection regulations – called Protection Against Climate Threats Resilient Environments and Landscapes rules, or PACT REAL – went into effect in January.
Among the changes, the rules raise the elevation requirements for buildings, expand flood zones and tighten construction standards – heavily impacting coastal areas such as Ocean City.
In response, City Council unanimously introduced a zoning ordinance Thursday night that will help Ocean City homeowners comply with the new state rules when they build their new houses.
The state regulations will require new homes to be built 2 feet higher at the base floor level to help protect them flooding.
Ocean City officials believe that would cut down on the amount of living space in new homes if nothing is done to compensate for the extra 2 feet of elevation required at the base of a house.
The city’s new ordinance counters the state requirement by adding 2 extra feet to the height – or rooftop of new homes – City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson explained to the Council members.
“These two feet that they’ve taken out of the bottom will take two feet out of the building unless Council adopts an ordinance that adds those two feet back into the building, and that’s what’s before you,” she said.
The ordinance is scheduled for a public hearing and final vote at Council’s Feb. 19 meeting. This version of the ordinance will apply to home construction. McCrosson said a similar zoning ordinance will be brought before Council later on for commercial construction.
The Council members indicated that the ordinance will allow Ocean City to comply with the new state regulations without causing homeowners any serious difficulty when building their new houses.
Councilman Dave Winslow said the new ordinance is reminiscent of the rules that were approved by Ocean City in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 to help the town comply with new flooding regulations enacted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“If we go back to Sandy, the administration got out ahead of the regulations. We were one of the first communities that got out and raised the elevation so that we would be compliant. I think this is just another example that we’re getting out ahead of it and making the adjustments now,” Winslow said.
Winslow also believes the new ordinance will prevent homeowners from having to go back to their architects to “basically start all over” for their new houses.
Landis Avenue in Sea Isle City is swamped with floodwater during a coastal storm in December 2023.Councilman Jody Levchuk said it would be wrong for anyone to think that Ocean City is unilaterally raising the heights of homes in town by 2 feet by adopting the ordinance.
“I hope the headline isn’t, ‘Ocean City just made their homes even taller and bigger,’ because that’s not realistic of what’s happening,” Levchuk said. “What’s happening is that we’re being told by the state that homes need to be built two feet taller off the ground now.”
“So, are we going to take two feet away from people’s houses now? No, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do,” he added.
Levchuk expressed his desire that the state will re-examine the rules, but there is no indication now that will happen.
The ordinance will give Ocean City the flexibility to make the appropriate changes if the state decides later on to amend the regulations, McCrosson said.
The PACT REAL regulations have been met with strong opposition in Cape May County. The county and all 16 of its municipalities have adopted resolutions criticizing the rules.
Although they say they support protective measures for the coastal communities from rising sea levels, Cape May County officials argue that the regulations are simply too harsh and would cripple shore development and homeownership.
In November, the Cape May County Board of Commissioners authorized litigation against the PACT REAL regulations.
Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian told Council that even some of the mainland communities in Atlantic and Cape May counties – not just the shore towns – will be affected by the state regulations.
“We’ve been talking about this for a while now. But we have no idea where this is going to go,” Gillian said of the long-range implications of the regulations.
Gillian suggested that all of the counties and municipalities affected by the regulations should “fasten your seat belts.”
“It’s a new world we’re living in now,” he warned.
The state regulations will help protect coastal communities and other New Jersey towns against climate impacts, including rising sea levels. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
