OCEAN CITY — Officials made it painfully clear Oct. 30 that citizens must speak up immediately against the governor’s proposed flood elevation changes because of the deleterious effect they would have on homes and businesses on barrier islands and on the mainland.
The time to do so is just about out.
At a public seminar at the Ocean City Tabernacle hosted by Families of Ocean City United in Success (FOCUS), Assemblyman Antwan McClellan, Cape May County Commission Chairman Leonard Desiderio and Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian urged the people gathered to fight the regulations proposed by Gov. Phil Murphy in Executive Order 100. The window for public comment is closing Nov. 7, so the urgency was clear.
The executive order contains more than 1,000 pages of new regulations that would force homeowners and businesses to raise their buildings if they undertake renovations or repairs valued at or above 50 percent of their building’s market value — and raise them to standards predicated on anticipated sea level rise 75 years from now.
“This is a very important issue that affects all of us,” Desiderio said, not just in Ocean City, but throughout Cape May County and the state of New Jersey.
He and the others pointed out the new regulations, coming in an executive order, bypassed the Legislature, without any discussion of the 120 legislators representing the people of New Jersey, including the First District’s Sen. Michael Testa and Assemblymen McClellan and Erik Simonsen.
Desiderio said the county commissioners have been at the forefront of the fight not just in Cape May County, but in enlisting support throughout the state as other counties and cities learn the effects of the new rules.
He said the regulations are the most far-reaching and impactful since the establishment of Coastal Area Facilities Review Act (CAFRA) regulations in the 1980s.
“The rules are not limited to coastal communities,” Desiderio said, but will impact the mainland, affordable housing and persons with disabilities “at an inordinate level.”
He urged everyone to make their voices heard.
“This is our opportunity to fight against a change of life they’re trying to impose,” McClellan said, telling people how to construct their buildings and to raise their homes.
When he listened to testimony at an Ocean County hearing, it was about how people shouldn’t be living on barrier islands and should let the animals take them over.
Noting he raised his Ocean City home 5 feet after Hurricane Sandy, McClellan said, “If I have to raise my house another 5 feet, I don’t know how I’ll get into it.”
He said the new regulations would put most of Cape May County into a flood zone, forcing everyone to get flood insurance, and it would deed restrict people’s houses. It also would make it harder to put elevators into homes.
When he pointed out how much of a pain it is to fight for a CAFRA permit, he wondered what it would be like for someone in Upper Township to apply for a permit when they don’t get flooding now.
“We don’t need to prepare now” for what is predicted will happen 75 years from now, McClellan said. “Let’s do things to protect our way of life. I’m not in Trenton telling people in Mercer County how to live. We’re telling them how we live in Cape May County.
“Let the governor know we don’t want this,” McClellan said. “We want a seat at the table.”
He noted the state wants people to raise their homes, but not the roads. “How do you do that? That is the nonsense we’re dealing with.”
He said the plan is to be enacted in 2025.
“Let’s protect our coast together. It’s all about doing things together, not having a dictatorship by executive order.”
When the governor bypasses everyone and writes executive orders, Gillian said, “It’s dangerous.”
At the seminar, FOCUS displayed QR codes (see related image) to make it easy for people to send an email directly to the governor and to add to the public comment at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The comment period ends Nov. 7.
FOCUS President Todd Eachus introduced the speakers, saying his group wants to continue educational public events like this while asking for community support and financial support. Learn more about the group at ocnjfocus.org.