Starting this summer, new homes in flood zones along the Jersey Shore will need to be built 4 feet higher.
The requirement comes from a new regulation the state finalized Tuesday to prepare coastal buildings for rising tides driven by climate change.
“If you construct something today, … we could expect that it will live through the end of the century,” said Marjorie Kaplan, co-director of the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center at Rutgers University. “So, it just seems prudent to be protective.”
The new standard reflects the upper range that scientists predict sea levels are likely to rise and land to sink along the coast of New Jersey by the year 2100.
The new rules require the first floors of new buildings in coastal flood zones to be elevated 4 feet above current requirements. The higher standard also applies to some buildings that are significantly renovated.
The rules also expand the coastal flood zone where these standards apply from 16% of the state’s land area to around 17%, state environmental officials said last fall.
Cape May Mayor Zachary Mullock worries the rules could burden some households or make it harder to renovate the historic Victorian-era homes that are typical of his town.
“It’s going to be very hard not to look like a house on stilts,” he said.
But Mullock said for new buildings, the higher standard makes “all the sense in the world.”
Cape May already requires new construction be built 2 feet above minimum standards. Mullock expects the additional cost of elevating a new home a couple feet higher would be minimal.
“It’s smart, building for the future,” Mullock said. “I mean, we know from the science that we are going to experience stronger storms, greater storm surge. We know that the state of New Jersey is sinking while the water’s rising.”
The 4 feet of additional elevation corresponds to the upper range of the sea level rise scientists think New Jersey is likely to see by the year 2100, said Janine Barr, a senior research specialist at Rutgers’ Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
In a 2025 report, Barr and other researchers at Rutgers University estimated that under an “intermediate” greenhouse gas emissions scenario, coastal areas of the state are likely to experience 2.2 to 3.8 feet of sea level rise by 2100, or as much as 4.5 feet if rapid ice-sheet loss occurs.
Barr said these estimates take into account factors including the expanding volume of ocean water as it warms and melting of ice. They also incorporate the sinking of New Jersey’s land due to a glacial ice sheet retreating during the last ice age, groundwater pumping and changes in winds and currents.
Last year, officials with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection lowered their proposed elevation standard from 5 additional feet to 4, citing newer science. They also allowed permit applications to be reviewed under the old rules for up to 180 days after the regulation was finalized.
Some business representatives and local government officials opposed the regulation, arguing it could hurt the Jersey Shore’s homeowners, economy and property values.
Ray Cantor, deputy chief government affairs officer of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, called it an “extreme measure” in a statement last fall.
“It will have devastating economic impacts to coastal and river communities and their residents and exacerbates the affordability crisis while making it harder to build affordable housing,” he said.
Construction proposals can receive exemptions from the rules under certain circumstances, including when elevating would be unreasonably expensive or when a project is subject to “extraordinary” physical or engineering constraints. Exemptions may not harm nearby properties or undermine public health and safety.
Projects can also receive an exemption when they include affordable housing. Jennifer Coffey, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, criticized this Tuesday.
“It is unconscionable to provide a waiver to permit the development of homes for people who are least financially able to recover from impacts in the most risky areas of New Jersey,” Coffey said. “It’s the opposite of our environmental justice regulations, and we think that needs to be fixed by Governor Sherrill.”
But overall, Coffey said she’s happy with the new rules.
“It takes new roadways, new police stations, new hospitals and new residents out of the floodplain from this increasing sea level rise,” she said. “It is going to save lives.”