Communities around the country including New York City, the Massachusetts towns of Marshfield, Scituate, and Duxbury; Palm Beach County, Fla.; Bethany Beach, Del.; New Orleans; and Belvedere, Calif. have challenged Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance rate maps.
The new maps place 80% more New York City homes and businesses in flood zones than the previous set of maps. New York City disputes the new maps and has come up with its own map that takes into account resiliency projects such as hardening of the shoreline. The city’s revised map would remove about 26,000 buildings from flood zones. It wants FEMA to revise federal flood zone maps according to the city’s map.
Builders in New Jersey who have permits that were grandfathered in may still move forward with their projects in flood zones, but are faced with tough decisions. Those who choose to build under outdated flood zone regulations may have their projects undervalued when buyers discover they have to pay high flood insurance premiums.
Professionals who deal with flood map revision requests say that the agency is open to good faith requests for changes to the maps. The process to get changes passed is a lengthy one, however.
Related Stories
Green | Jun 8, 2015
Maryland tech firm is developing spray-on solar panels for windows
Made primarily out of hydrogen and carbon, the coating can turn see-through surfaces into solar panels.
Green | Jun 8, 2015
Diamond Schmitt Architects creates tool to compare energy use data across building types
The firm's new ecoMetrics tool allows for a comprehensive analysis of data from energy simulation models across a wide range of the company’s building types.
High-rise Construction | Jun 5, 2015
Japanese policymakers discuss mandate for toilets in elevators
This quirky-sounding building code is a safety measure for the earthquake-prone nation.
Cultural Facilities | Jun 5, 2015
Chicago’s 606 elevated park opens
The 2.7-mile stretch repurposes an abandoned elevated train track that snakes through Humboldt Park and Bucktown.
Smart Buildings | Jun 4, 2015
Evidence suggests wider lanes make city streets more dangerous
Lanes that are 10.5 feet wide have lower side impact crashes than standard 12-foot lanes, suggests new research.
BIM and Information Technology | Jun 3, 2015
More accurate GPS ready to change the way we shop, interact, and explore
New technology reduces location errors from the size of a car to the size of a nickel—a 100 times increase in accuracy. This is a major technological breakthrough that will affect how we interact with environments, the places we shop, and entertainment venues.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 1, 2015
Sacramento moves forward on multifamily project with new modular supplier
Guerdon Modular Buildings will provide modules for 118 apartments.
| May 29, 2015
Austin, Salt Lake City, Davis, Calif., and Boston creating first protected intersections in U.S.
Protected intersections arrange traffic so that everyone—bicyclists included—can see all moving traffic simply by looking forward instead of forcing people in cars and on bikes to look constantly over their shoulders.
Smart Buildings | May 28, 2015
4 ways cold-climate cities can make the most of their waterfronts
Though cold-climate cities pose a unique challenge for waterfront development, with effective planning waterfront cities with freezing winter months can still take advantage of the spaces year-round.
Multifamily Housing | May 28, 2015
Census Bureau: 10 U.S. cities now have one million people or more
California and Texas each have three of the one-million-plus cities.