News & Announcements Blog

PlanSmart NJ hosted a daylong Summit on Hurricane Sandy recovery and resiliency on April 30th, a day after the State of New Jersey and the federal government announced the adoption of the Hurricane Sandy NJ CDBG Action Plan governing $1.8 billion in federal disaster recovery spending.  Over 200 land use planners, engineers, attorneys, local officials, academic and non-profit leaders attended PlanSmart NJ's 2nd Annual Regional Planning Summit: Investing for the New Normal at the War Memorial in Trenton. The day-long event featured panel discussions on community rebuilding and infrastructure investment.

 

NJAFM was represented by Legislative Committee Chair John Miller, who acted as moderator for the afternoon breakout session.

 

For the full press release, please click on the link below:

 

PlanSmart NJ Summit on Hurricane Sandy Resiliency

On April 23, 2013 NJAFM filed an Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) brief in relation to the Harvey Cedars v. Karan court case, in which a couple owning an oceanfront property denied an easement for an engineered dune.  After Harvey Cedars obtained the easement through Eminent Domain, the couple sued the town for $500,000 to cover loss of use and ocean views, and were awarded $375,000 by the jury.  The case was appealed to the appellate court, which upheld the original decision, so the next appeal will by heard by the NJ Supreme Court.  The NJAFM position is that we disagree that the property owners received no special benefit rather than just the community’s general benefit from the dune.  If the appeal fails a precedent would be set whereby all similarly affected property owners would expect comparable compensation, thereby jeopardizing the viability of future dune projects (and other flood/storm damage reduction projects). 

Copies of the key documents can be accessed by clicking on the links below:

Amicus Brief

Amicus Motion

Pam Yost, NRCS Economist from West Virginia will present the results of a successful voluntary buyout project in which 100 buildings have been purchased and removed to restore the natural floodplain.

For more details including how to register for the webinar, please click on the link below:

http://www.conservationwebinars.net/webinars/sure-i-will-move-out-of-the-floodplain

May 15, 2013

Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ

The Gulf coast has been on the front lines for years thinking about preparedness, rebuilding, and recovery. Their lessons learned can be invaluable to lawmakers in New Jersey facing the same challenges. This workshop will be an opportunity to share lessons learned and have a dialogue with people who have lived through htese challenges and work with communities to be resilient for the future.

Please click on the links below for the agenda and registration details:

http://origin.library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102587585619-56/Gulf+to+Shore.agenda.pdf

https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=tczov8cab&oeidk=a07e78709d3310e8f99&oseq=a023d5hek6a3r4

New Jersey Climate Adaptation Alliance (based at Rutgers) will be holding a conference on May 22, 2013:

Climate Change Preparedness in New Jersey: Leading Practices & Policy Priorities.

More information and registration information is available here:

http://climatechange.rutgers.edu/may2013conf.html. 

The purpose of this conference is to highlight climate preparedness and resilience activities underway in New Jersey,as well as leading practices throughout the United States, in order to enhance climate change adaptation capacity in New Jersey.

Through a partnership with the JC NERR and Rutgers Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis, an interactive flood mapping website is NOW available. The new Google Maps-based website allows users to view sea level rise scenarios from 0 to 6 feet, while overlaying GIS layers such as critical municipal facilities, evacuation routes, and floodplain layers. 

ASFPM has decided to nominate the NJAFM for the White House Champions of Change Award for all of its hard work following Hurricane Sandy.  NJAFM is honored and thrilled about the nomination.  Thank you to all of our members for their hard work and support.

Taking action to give New Jersey families, businesses and local governments the best available guidance to quickly and more durably rebuild from Hurricane Sandy, Governor Chris Christie today signed emergency regulations to adopt the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) updated Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFEs) maps as the rebuilding standard for the entire state. 

These regulations establish requirements and more efficient procedures for residents and businesses to construct, reconstruct, relocate and elevate buildings and other structures in flood hazard areas. 

For the full text of the release, please click on the link below:

http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/552013/approved/20130124c.html

Professor Ken Mitchell of Rutgers University has asked for help from NJAFM to promote an academic research survey investigating human responses to risk, the results of which could potentially be useful to NJAFM.  Please take the time to participate in the survey by clicking on the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6HQJVV5

This link provides access to NJPropertyFax. This product provides free access to Property Information, assessment data, CMA’s and additional insured reports for purchase. All Flood Plain Managers are encouraged to contact Property Fax, LLC directly for additional features and services. (908 725-1143) or email: info@njpropertyfax.com .

This will allow anyone public access to the NJ Property Fax website http://njpropertyfax.com/account/guest_login?mls_search=N