VILLAS – Some residents of Cape May County’s coastal communities are telling the state Department of Environmental Protection to “get real” in response to the agency’s REAL program on climate change.
The residents, along with county and municipal officials, are sharply questioning two DEP programs, Resilient Environments and Landscapes (REAL) and New Jersey Protecting Against Climate Threats (NJPACT), which were created to address the predicted effects of climate change and sea level rise.
According to Peter Lomax, an environmental planner whose specialty is DEP regulations on coastal areas, the department looked ahead to the year 2100 and determined the cumulative sea level rise by then could be as much as 5 feet.
Lomax said the DEP’s proposed regulation changes under the REAL program related to construction in coastal inundation zones were based on a study conducted by Rutgers University focusing on the probability of sea level rise, using 2100 as a planning horizon.
Climate scientists calculated there was a 17% chance of a 5.1-foot sea level rise by the end of the century. Based on that projection, under the DEP’s proposed regulations new construction, demolitions/rebuilds and improvements that add 50% or more to the value of a home would be required to have a first habitable floor with an elevation of 14 feet.
Lomax said Cape May County asked him to go over the regulatory changes, and he has been visiting communities for that purpose.
Giving a report to the Lower Township Council July 15, he said that under the new rules 67% of the township would be in a flood zone.
Lower Township property owner Jack Cready, who built a house in 2020, asked if something could be engineered to divert the flooding. Lomax replied that there was nothing developed at this level.
Another resident, Theresa Stanton, said she wanted real evidence that there would be a 5-foot sea level rise in the time period being discussed. Stanton said such changes should not be based on speculation.
Lomax said the resident could make comments to the state after the program is introduced; that is expected to happen on Aug. 5. Mayor Frank Sippel said the township would advertise public meetings related to the new regulations. The introduction would begin a 90-day comment period, and the program would take effect within a year after introduction if the state adopts it.
Villas resident Debbie Johns said she lives two houses from the bay and believes the new regulations will drive a lot of people out of the township. She said one of her neighbors has already had insurance canceled because they are less than 2,000 feet from the bay.
Lomax said flood insurance would likely be required where it had not been before, adding, “People (already) in flood zones will see substantial changes.”
Resident Michael Butler said he couldn’t believe how NJPACT/REAL came about.
“I’m flabbergasted that it came this far and was initiated by executive order,” he said.
Butler said the research was conducted by “people from Rutgers who are in the business of climate change” and who are “altering an entire county’s economy.”
Sippel said, “We will push and push and push – we are dead set against this.”
Johns said the impact on the people and on the working class, in particular, would be devastating. She said that rather than dispute the science there should be discussions of what can be done to stay here.
Township Office of Emergency Management Director Ed Donohue asked how the new regulations would affect the Community Rating System for flood insurance discounts. Lomax said that is an important consideration because municipalities are investing a lot to mitigate flooding. He said a lot of towns are requesting that the increase in minimum first habitable floor elevation be done incrementally.
Marc DeBlasio of the DeBlasio and Associates engineering firm said municipalities really need to review and comment on the proposed regulations, as they will have significant impacts both logistically and financially.
“We all want to improve flood resiliency and plan for the future, but it needs to be done realistically and in a phased approach,” he said.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.