New Sea-Level Rise Rules Could Cause Problems For Ocean City Homes

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Ocean City is gearing up for new regulations on building elevations that are expected to go into effect this summer.

City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson addressed the NJPACT-REAL (Resilient Environments and Landscapes) at a recent City Council meeting, saying that she anticipates the rules to go into effect this August.

"We don't know whether there will be litigation to forestall the implementation of the new regulations, so we are preparing as if it will go into effect," McCrosson said.

The "lengthy document" will impact shore communities "in a profound way," she said. The regulations, implemented through an executive order by Gov. Phil Murphy, is part of the New Jersey Protecting Against Climate Threats (NJPACT) initiative. Its aim is to better protect communities that are most at risk due to sea-level rise, chronic flooding, extreme weather and other climate-related threats, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.

Cape May County and all 16 municipalities jointly came out against the REAL regulations prior to their implementation.

"The immediate impacts on Ocean City will be an increase in the height of our buildings," McCrosson said. Ocean City is currently at BFE+3 (basic flood elevation), and with the changes "will essentially be BFE+5," she said.

The city is unsure whether this will be a two-foot increase or three-foot increase, but in the meantime, the immediate impacts will be figuring out how to get people in and out of the higher buildings, she said.

"We went through this after Sandy," McCrosson said, where neighborhoods had very high buildings and others that were lower or not replaced, but eventually things caught up to the new norm. In this case though, with a roof height of more than 35 feet, it will be more to deal with.

"Even a single family home may require a sprinkler system," McCrosson said. "So that's an expense to the homeowner we expect to see."

Longer staircases and additional elevators are also likely, she said.

McCrosson said she would keep council updated. "We're working through the immediate issues," she said.