Ocean City Housing Market on the Rise ... Literally
A home at the corner of 52nd Street and Simpson Avenue illustrates the process of elevating a home.
Photos
As thousands of property owners consider elevating their homes after Superstorm Sandy and ahead of federal flood insurance premium increases, Ocean City is beginning to see the first examples of houses on the rise.
One dramatic illustration can be found at the corner of E. 52nd Street and Simpson Avenue in the Ocean City Homes neighborhood.
Adrian Johnson, a representative of SJ Hauck House Movers of Egg Harbor Township, the contractor for the job, offers a quick summary of the process:
- Steel I-beams are run through the crawlspace below the first floor.
- Four to nine hydraulic jacks lift the home 17 inches at a time.
- The home is temporarily supported by a "jenga block" assembly of railroad ties. (See photos above.)
- Using rollers, the contractor will then slide the home toward the sidewalk to allow some pilings (helical piles) to be screwed into the ground.
- The home will then need to be moved to a different edge of the property to allow more pilings to be placed.
- The home ultimately will rest on pilings with its first floor at a higher elevation. Exterior "breakaway" walls can be constructed to grade level to hide the exposed pilings.
Johnson said the entire job — including pile driving — might typically cost in the $20,000 to $40,000 range, depending on the size of the home, the complexity of the job and the room they have to work with.
The home at 52nd Street is part of a "V Zone" on the new Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFE) map that requires an elevation of 11 feet on the NAVD88 scale.
The elevation of shore homes has become a hot topic as the National Flood Insurance Program has signaled that it will raise premiums dramatically for homes that do not comply with new elevation guidelines. The program is trying to become self-sustaining after falling deep into debt following Hurricane Katrina and other flood disasters.
But neither the final flood elevation map nor the final flood insurance premiums has been determined, so city officials and insurance agents are advising homeowners who don't need to rebuild immediately that a "wait-and-see approach" is most prudent.
Sam
7:08 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
And what will those of us not elegible for ICC do? With quotes of 80k to elevate?? Simply pay the 15-20k in flood insurance??? There are many homeowners on the island in this situation! Cannot afford to elevate! Cannot afford the insurance! These are our homes! Our nest-eggs! Please follow, help, share and like www.facebook.com/stopfemanow. This is a grass roots org trying to save us from increases in insurance and flood mapping!
Tom Kline
12:43 pm on Monday, March 25, 2013
Sell
Marlin Magnet
7:33 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Top Ten things you'll here about this home
1. Watch that first step, it's a doozey
2. I'm sorry Mr. ADA enforcement officer, we can't be Americans with Disibility compliant with a ramp, because it would need to start at the ninth street bridge, and I cant roll my wheel chair that far.
3. He're is a lovely home for a retired couple looking to get a lot of excercise carrying those groceries up and down the ladder.
4. This home comes with both a bay and ocean view
5. Plenty of storage room in the V1 storage area
6. Don't forget to heat wrap those water pipes before you run them over with your car.
7. Honey, I can see NY city from up here
8. Sara Palin can see Russia from here.
9. If I get a bigger reel for my surf rod, I think I can make the cast.
10. Hey neighbor, hows the weather down there
John Hay
9:24 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
11. Oops! "I've fallen and I can't get up."
Michael Capo
9:21 am on Thursday, March 14, 2013
12 So what ...we can deal with the nose bleeds
Gsieri Builders
8:25 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
This will become a familiar sight along the coastline of NJ. Our locally based company is involved in this process. We are Ocean City residents with strong ties to our community. We feel for our neighbors many of you have questions and concerns, some have been mislead or given high quotes for raising your home or rebuilding it. If anyone has any questions or needs professional insight feel free to contact us. Click on our company name for contact info. We support our community thanks.
Eric Sauder
8:57 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
I was out looking around at new consturction and saw a few exisitng homes that are being elevated. Of the later is a house around 31st and Bay, a rancher that it being elevated on a block foundation. I don't mean to offend anyone but it looks ridiculous. As for new constructon there's a home in the 29th block of West that is narrow and high ... the first floor of the new construction is above the second floor of the existing home next to it (from the alley side.) This is the new Ocean CIty? I understand the new elevation requirements and everything but is there a better way to do this? It seems like we're taking the exisitng plan of development and forcing it onto those new constraints. Why is the parking area at the back of those homes 9 to 10 feet? Maybe we should rethink the old tried and true split level construction?
John Hay
9:21 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
For your free Hurricane Sandy desktop "Days Since Sandy" Clock go here:
http://www.orijinations.com/HTML/JH/SandyDay.html
Unfortunately the tragedies resulting from Hurricane Sandy have created either opportunities or insurmountable burdens on local Ocean City, NJ residents.
We wish all homeowners all the best in coping with the devastation.
EXiT REALTY OCEAN CITY
10:50 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
It hard to say if anyone is a winner in this. It is a good idea to protect your homes but at what cost to the landscape of Ocean City and the money involved. It seems like FEMA is in a rush to push this. While it is necessary in some areas I'm not sure if the whole thing has been studied enough.
Joseph Landicini, Broker 1301 West Ave A-1 OCNJ 609-743-8172
Eric Sauder
10:59 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
I agree with that comment and I think it applies to the City too. Before anyone jumps on me about commenting too much, today is my day off. I care.
Jeff Monihan
11:24 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Too bad that the "proffessionals" and the planners over the years, since March 1962, never caught on to the fact that a lot elevavation of 6.5 ft is different than a lot elevation of 11.5 ft as they forced their asinine" crown of the road," average of the roofline, height limit design down the throats of architects and home homeowners who desired to build an astheticly attractive flood safe home. Just look at the required sub terrainian garages.
Eric Sauder
12:11 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Jeff you seem to have a strong opinion about this so let me ask you. How is it better to measure elevation from 4 points on a lot than it is to take it off of the centerline of the street?
Eric Sauder
12:01 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Well there are people here who sounded the alarm but no one seemed to be listening. Its kind of hard to ignore it now.
Eric Sauder
12:20 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
(That was my Ronald Reagan impersonation.)
Bob
1:24 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
If anyone who wasn't here for Sandy (I rode it out) wants to get an idea of how high the water is. Here is a list of the 100year flood elevation markers in the city:
https://imageserv10.team-logic.com/mediaLibrary/242/Ocean_City_BM_Elevation_10_NGVD_12-11-19.pdf
I've seen a few of them. The one at the end of Dory (being one of the higher spots in town, too) is about 4.5' above the ground. Find those markers, measure 1.5' down, and that's how high the water was for Sandy.
Eric Sauder
4:10 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Thanks for the info. I found my marker 2 feet 5 inches above the ground (where the pole meets the ground.) According to your calculation I should have had a foot of water from Sandy (above ground level.) I have a storage shed that stayed high and dry, the floor of whihc is only inches off the ground. So that doesn't seem to work out (maybe I measured wrong?) Assuming I measured correctly can I infer from this that my lot (ground level) is 2 feet 5 inches below base flood elevation?
Ellen
4:46 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
Thank you Bob,
Bob
10:13 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
Eric,
Water is self leveling. Your property isn't completely flat and probably isn't the same elevation as the pole. Usually the alley side is higher and the ground slopes up to the houses. Also, there is some minor topographic variances from property to property due to settling and the fact that the contractors were just building most of the houses as fast as they can. Not really an issue, but a few inches here and there can mean the difference in your shed getting wet or not.
jj
6:46 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Look's like they are doing what they need to do.
Eric Sauder
9:00 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
In a sense that is true. The State mandated BF + 1. The City took it a step farther. I think it would have been better to leave it as it was instead of making it even more restrictive. There are any number of homes built at BF + 1 that, because of the BF + 2 ordinance, are no longer conforming either. Anything the City could have done to soften the impact would have been appreciated.
Maybe you were referring to the property owners, I don't know.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds. Ultimately it may prove to be the determining factor as to whether it was a good move or not. If this truly was a 50 year storm and we don't see another like it for another 50 years, I think a lot of people will be wondering "why did we do it?" And if we get a storm of sufficient magnitude to reach the flood level we're preparing for, I wonder if the wind damage won't do widespread devastation to the island.
Frank
7:17 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Split levels are hideous and should never be revisited!
Sam Giunta
8:44 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Amen to that.....
Frank
10:11 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
No matter what precautions we take Mother Nature will ultimately win!
Frank
10:12 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
These are the risks we take living on a barrier island that was not intended to be inhabited.
Joe
12:27 pm on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Isn't the question whether or not OC as town will implement the new ABFE's? Does anyone know that information? My house is raised, but probably only around 5 feet. the new ABFE's call for 10 feet. Not sure if its measured from the street or the area under the home...anyone know that?
Eric Sauder
7:58 pm on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The City has to adopt the new ABFE's; they were adopted by the state. The BF +2 ordinance specifies (at least for new construction) that elevation be measured from four points on the lot (no longer the centerline of the street.) If you want to get a rough idea as to what your elevation is, see Bob's post above. There are markers all over town. Read my comments though because you have to adjust that number. If you're in a V zone you need to go up on pilings.
Christina Amey
8:56 pm on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Building height is not measured from four points on the lot. It is measured from a line 2' above the ABFE. If you are in a 10' zone on the ABFE map, it does not mean your floor will be 10' above the ground. The ABFE, to over simplify, is a measurement above approximate sea level (NAVD88). Wikipedia has a more detailed definition of NAVD88 if you want to know the non-simplified explanation of where the ABFE is measured from.
Eric Sauder
9:49 pm on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
That might have changed as a result of FEMA's involvement (I'll have to go back and look at the ordinance.) Originally four points on a lot is what they were going to use to determine lot elevation in relation to BFE, and to calculate building elevation from that. I'll check into NAVD88 while I'm at it. Since BF + 2 was passed the term for two feet above BFE (here) is called the zoning elevation.
Eric Sauder
10:19 pm on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
I have to say that ordinance changed so many times its difficult to keep up with all the changes.
OCLocal
7:55 pm on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Doesn't matter what the city does. The governor implemented it for the whole state. Remember he's smarter than everyone else.
Ellen
4:39 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
So when are the escalator vendors coming into town? That's about the only way older folks are going to be able to get into their homes.
Eric Sauder
8:29 am on Friday, March 15, 2013
If you look at the new construction (and even some of the older homes that have been elevated) that might be true for everyone. Its going to be a problem running stairs to those heights. And if you have exterior stairs and elevate you're going to have to get a variance to connect them to the ground or rebuild them. So the mechanical ordinance that was just passed to relieve the zoning board isn't going to accomplish that goal in some situations. But it wil get new construction moving, which was I think, the true objective.