Berkeley Officials Vow To Fight 'Coastal A' Requirements

by Patricia A. Miller

No way.

That’s the message Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. and township officials have for the state Department of Community Affairs’ decision to enforce a ”Coastal A” flood zone in some of the waterfront sections of Berkeley.

“This is something that will affect well over 400 of our waterfront homes,” Amato said at the Oct. 19 Township Council meeting. ”It’s not fair for homeowners.”

Council members unanimously passed a resolution asking the DCA to roll back the current regulations regarding the Coastal A zone regulations, which went into effect last month under the state’s newly adopted Uniform Construction Code.

Some homeowners have already elevated their homes and others are in the process and cannot afford to alter their plans, Councilman James J. Byrnes said.

Most state and federal grant programs to help primary homeowners elevate their residences are closed, he said.

“Where is the money going to come from?” Byrnes said.

Previously houses located in areas of limited wave action (ALWA) could still be built on a concrete block foundation. But now all new construction in homes in the ALWA will have to be elevated on pilings, with the area underneath open and unobstructed.

“Changing the regulations while people are in the process of rebuilding or have already rebuilt is unfair,” Amato said recently. ”People who rebuilt their homes in good faith have relied on yesterday’s regulations in effect at the time are now being told they are going to be penalized because the regulations are changed after the fact.”

Homeowners have a six-month grace period until March 21,2016 to apply for a building or elevation program. After that, they will have to comply with the new Coastal A regulations.

The state’s new Uniform Construction Code requires homes in the new Coastal A zone to be elevated using the same pilings, helical piles and breakaway walls of homes in the V or velocity zone, on FEMA’s flood maps, according to app.com.

Berkeley Township Waterways Commission Chairman William McGrath and township professionals have estimated the new Coastal A zone requirements would affect 64 homes in the Mill Creek area, 44 homes in Good Luck Point, 58 in Berkeley Shores, 19 in Holly Park, 101 in Glen Cove, 45 in Cedar Creek and 48 in the area east of Ocean Gate, Amato said.

“So the total is about 379-380, give or take a few,” the mayor said. ”This does not include the vacant lots in the zone.:

“...FEMA recommends that communities apply more stringent requirements in this area, such as applying Zone V requirements, to reduce flood damage caused by wave action,“ according to FEMA‘s website. “Even when not required by the community, FEMA recommends that homeowners with property in the Coastal A zone mitigate wave action by conforming to Zone V requirements.

To find out what your base flood elevation is, click here.

Photo credit: Patricia A. Miller