Bill Text: NJ S2598 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides limited exemption from development regulations to allow certain structures to be raised as high as the highest applicable flood elevation standard.**
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-06-24 - Substituted by A3890 (2R) [S2598 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-S2598-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator JIM WHELAN
District 2 (Atlantic)
SYNOPSIS
Provides limited exemption from local land use restrictions to allow certain existing structures to be raised to new FEMA base flood elevations.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain flood elevation standards and local land use restrictions and supplementing Title 58 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, except as otherwise provided pursuant to subsection b. of this section, a person shall be exempt from any local land use restriction that otherwise would be violated as a result of raising an existing structure to a new FEMA base flood elevation, provided, however, the exemption shall apply only to the extent or degree necessary to allow the structure to meet the new FEMA base flood elevation.
b. The exemption established pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall not apply to:
(1) new construction; or
(2) a structure that is altered:
(a) after the new FEMA base flood elevation applicable thereto is made public; and
(b) in a manner that would increase, exacerbate, or contribute to the extent of noncompliance with the local land use restriction.
c. As used in this act, "new FEMA base flood elevation" means any advisory base flood elevation or effective base flood elevation proposed or adopted after October 29, 2012, by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would provide a person with a limited exemption from local land use restrictions when raising a structure to meet a new FEMA base flood elevation, if raising the structure would otherwise result in a violation of the local land use restriction.
A "new FEMA base flood elevation" is defined in the bill to mean any advisory base flood elevation or effective base flood elevation proposed or adopted after October 29, 2012, by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A base flood elevation, as calculated by FEMA, represents the elevation of a flood with a one percent chance of occurrence during any given year, commonly referred to as a "100-year flood." A structure that is not elevated to the applicable FEMA-issued base flood elevation for its location is subject to a higher flood insurance premium under the National Flood Insurance Program. For an existing structure, raising the structure to meet a newly proposed or adopted base flood elevation may, in certain cases, violate local land use restrictions, such as a maximum height restriction.
This bill would provide a partial exemption from local land use restrictions, so as to allow a property owner to raise an existing structure to a new FEMA base flood elevation without violating local land use restrictions. The exemption would apply only to the extent or degree necessary to meet the new FEMA base flood elevation applicable to the location in question.
The exemption would not be available for new construction. Likewise, the exemption would not be available for a structure that is altered (1) after a new FEMA base flood elevation applicable thereto is made public, and (2) in a manner that would increase, exacerbate, or contribute to noncompliance with the local land use restriction upon raising the structure to the new FEMA base flood elevation.
