Couple Sells Beloved Laurence Harbor Home to the State

Old Bridge, NJ - Kathy and Drew Litchkowski planned on staying in their Laurence Harbor home for a long, long time.

The small, one-story bungalow at 9 Cliffwood Way sits at the end of a quiet street. It overlooks Raritan Bay. They could walk to the beach at Old Bridge Waterfront Park.

And then Sandy came.

“My husband’s lived on that street his whole life; we’ve had storms before where the water came up. But it was nothing like Sandy,” Kathy told Patch. “When Sandy hit, the water came over our windows. I would not wish (what happened) on my worst enemy.”

Raritan Bay flooded their street, their foundation and nearly came into their living room. On Oct. 29, 2012, the family fled, only to return later by canoe to salvage anything they could. The home and the property had been destroyed, and the Litchkowskis slowly realized they could never live there again. Even if they wanted to stay, they would have to tear down the property and rebuild from scratch. New state law mandated that all homes on their street be raised by at least 15 feet. The couple now lives in Aberdeen — but they were stuck with the Laurence Beach property.

This week, 9 Cliffwood Way became the first property in Old Bridge to be bought by the state Department of Environmental Protection as part of Blue Acres. Through Blue Acres, the DEP has bought similar distressed properties nearby in Woodbridge, East Brunswick and South River.

It’s money Kathy says she and her husband wouldn’t have been able to get otherwise.

“I truly am very thankful for the Blue Acres Program; without them, I don’t know what we would have done,” she said. “I don’t think we would have been able to sell the property.”

9 Cliffwood Way will be demolished and turned into open space, a DEP spokesman said. The aim of the Blue Acres buyback is to use state money to buy distressed properties and turn them into open space, which will absorb flood water and alleviate flooding when the next big storm hits. Environmental advocates praise the program, except for one problem: Blue Acres needs more cash, some say.

Federal funds for Blue Acres are running low, says Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. 9 Cliffwood Way was purchased using funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Tittel says there are many people in New Jersey like the Litchkowskis, who want to get bought out and are waiting for money. But they may not get it, he warns, unless Gov. Chris Christie appropriates more state funding to Blue Acres.

The federal government will match any state money Christie steers towards Blue Acres. A state DEP spokesman says Tittel is wrong, and there is still about $50 million left in the program.

So far the state has extended offers to 700 homeowners, and 534 homeowners have accepting the state’s offer. Closings have been completed on 412 properties, 293 of which have now been demolished.

In fact, the DEP extended the same offer to Kathy’s mother-in-law, who lives on the same street. The older woman is now just waiting to close, Kathy said.

“Her home was destroyed. Ever since Sandy hit, she hasn’t been able to stop crying for the past two years, really,” said Kathy. “But the people at Blue Acres, and at the DEP, were really, really helpful with all this.”