NJBIA Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer Ray Cantor took to the NJ101.5 airwaves on Thursday to warn New Jersey residents and businesses about Land Use rules proposed by the state Department of Environmental Protection that could make the state less affordable.
Cantor told NJ101.5 morning host Eric Scott that the DEP could approve the rules by Aug. 5, or choose to significantly change them.
“DEP is close to adopting them, and we think that they have a potentially devastating impact on our economy, housing, and affordability,” Cantor told Scott.
The DEP is currently finalizing its Protecting Against Climate Threat rules, which were presented as a 1,057-page document that, among other things, establishes “inundation risk zones” and “climate adjusted flood elevation” areas for any new, expanded, redeveloped or substantially improved development.
Any such home or subject building in these IRZs or CAFEs will be required to be built 5 feet higher than existing flood standards.
“That's going to mean that people down to shore and in our river communities are going to have to, if they develop, elevate the house in an additional five feet,” Cantor told Scott.
“It means the construction standards are going to change. It means that the flood zones are going to significantly expand in these areas, and people are going to be hit with costs and regulatory requirements that they had no idea was coming.”
To hear the full interview, click here and scroll to the 20:00 mark.
