In Search of CRS Points, Stone Harbor Updates Flood Prevention Ordinance

STONE HARBOR – Stone Harbor Council heard a report from the borough’s Construction Official Ray Poudrier on proposed changes to the borough’s flood prevention ordinance March 21.
The update of the ordinance comes less from a desire to tighten floodplain management practices and more from an all-out search for Community Rating System (CRS) points needed to restore the borough’s recently downgraded CRS level.
In 2023, the borough’s CRS level dropped from 5 to 7, removing a 10% flood insurance discount property owners enjoyed before the decline. For every level score, from 9 at the lowest to 1 at the top, the community earns an added 5% to its insurance premium discount.
Poudrier was open about the motivation for the ordinance updates. Since spring 2022, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have been pushing updating flood damage prevention ordinance models. One goal was to better integrate National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations, the Uniform Construction Code, and the New Jersey Flood Hazard Area Control Act.
Poudrier said many of the recommended changes to the borough’s ordinance represent requirements that the construction office is already enforcing. The borough had just not gone through the process of integrating them into the flood ordinance. The CRS level decline provided the motivation to do so.
Some changes coming in the proposed ordinance will be new and the search for CRS points drives them. One example is the adding of 1 foot to the design flood elevation height, which has the effect of raising the height of a newly constructed home an extra foot since the borough’s height regulations are based on the design flood elevation number.
Other examples include deed restrictions for homes with crawl space areas greater than 6 feet and expanding permit requirements, some of which will carry new fees. Flood inspections will also be necessary at every construction site.
According to Poudrier, the proposed changes have more than doubled the size of the ordinance. These updates to the ordinance are largely coming from a task force established to recommend changes that will earn sufficient CRS points to restore the borough’s previous level 5 rating.
There was conspicuously less talk in this presentation than there had been in earlier ones about achieving a level 4, which would not only restore the previous flood insurance discount but add 5%. 
The document with all the proposed changes to regulations and operations has not yet been released to the public. Since it represents an ordinance amendment, it will have to go through a two-step council approval process, which also requires a public hearing. 
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.