Guide to Making the Call on Elevating Your Ocean City Property

The Ocean City Community Association sponsored a public forum on Saturday to answer questions from Ocean City property owners about repairing and rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy.

The question-and-answer session featured city officials, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) representatives, and representatives of the local insurance and real estate industries.

Even the panelists acknowledged a fair amount of uncertainty about the full ramifications of the unprecedented level of damage for the region and the process for rebuilding and recovering costs.

Here's our best shot at summarizing the considerations for property owners as they rebuild after the Oct. 29 storm. But because of the considerable amount of confusion surrounding the whole process, feel free to share information, questions and observations in the comments section of this story (and check the comments section of this other story as well).

• Find the elevation of your home. Most property owners in Ocean City should have a flood elevation certificate if they have flood insurance. Check to make sure it's not expired.
• Find the elevation required for your home under the new FEMA flood map.  Search for your Advisory Base Flood Elevation by address.
• See how your advisory elevation compares to Hurricane Sandy flood levels. Read the left column (NAVD 1988 datum) on the attached PDF (click on the PDF icon above). Make sure the flood elevation on your certificate uses the same NAVD 1988 scale as the ABFE maps (or see how the scales compare). The center column (NGVD 1929 datum) is the scale that appears on most flood elevation certificates in Ocean City. (Check the current tide level on the NAVD 1988 scale in real time.)
• What if your home remains below the required elevation? One thing appears certain: Your flood insurance premium will increase (because federal taxpayers will no longer subsidize the flood insurance program).

The following is one projection (not an authorized FEMA document) of what annual flood insurance premiums for V Zone properties with $250,000 residential building coverage might look like on a "full actuarial basis" when subsidies are fully eliminated:

The following are projected annual flood insurance premiums for A Zone properties with $250,000 residential building coverage:

• Consider the new Ocean City "BFE +2" Ordinance. City Council gave final approval Jan. 10 to a new ordinance (see story and text of the ordinance) that requires new and substantially renovated homes to built even higher than the base flood elevations. For homes outside the V Zones, the first habitable floor must be two feet above BFE. For homes in the V Zones, the floor joists must be two or three feet above the BFE (depending on which direction they face). The ordinance applies to new homes and (as per state building code) homes that are renovated or reconstructed beyond 50 percent of their assessed value (for structure only).
• Consider the resale value of homes that remain below base flood elevation. Buyers would potentially assume dramatically higher flood insurance premiums or the cost of elevating homes.
• What resources are available to elevate homes? Flood insurance policy holders should be able to take advantage of "Increased Cost of Compliance" (ICC) funding that can pay up to $30,000 to elevate homes. In a much longer process, property owners also can apply for hazard mitigation grants. Interested owners must contact the city's Emergency Management Department, which will submit a letter to the county by Feb. 8 (the city currently has a list of about 100 owners). The county will apply to the state, which will apply to the federal government. Also: Low-interest loans (1.68 percent) of up to $200,000 (for homeowners) and $2 million (for businesses) are available through the Small Business Administration.
• Will the Advisory Base Flood Elevation maps change? According to Gov. Chris Christie's executive order on Thursday (Jan. 24), the advisory maps are adopted and nobody is "grandfathered" for the purposes of state building codes. The final maps are expected to be complete by late summer and will likely include lower elevations and smaller "V Zones" as mitigating factors are taken into consideration. An appeals process will also be in effect when the final maps are released. Challenges from shore municipalities and from lawsuits are likely in the works.

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