The main sticking point concerned the area known as the ‘V’ zone or coastal high hazard zone.

Residents and elected officials protested the maps as too stringent and unrealistic. Thus, the flood insurance requirements for most of Hoboken will remain only slightly altered.įollowing their release in 2012, the advisory maps generated controversy especially along the Jersey shore in municipalities like Brick Township and Toms River both in Ocean County. Select areas area subject to higher elevations include a quadrant between 2nd Street and 6th Street (north to south) and Jackson Street and the edge of town (east to west) that includes the site of an electrical substation and several public housing units. This part of town - where due to the natural topography and preexisting wetlands and tidal marshes flooding occurs regularly - was lowered from Elevation 12 to either Elevation 11 or Elevation 10. Most of the western part of Hoboken still remains in what FEMA defines as a high risk flood area (‘AE’) and the boundaries have only been altered slightly. Much of Maxwell Place Park, that was overwhelmed by the Sandy surge and lost dozens of trees, is now classified as an ‘AE’ zone. In addition, part of the Hoboken rail yards and train terminal, the site where dozens of trains were damaged during historic flooding due to Sandy and originally included within the coastal high hazard zone, now falls outside the ‘V’ zone and has been redefined as a less stringent flood hazard area known as ‘AE’.

Parts of the central waterfront, including potential development sites at Stevens Institute and part of the Union Dry Dock site, were downgraded from ‘V’ zones to ‘AE’ zones. But in Hoboken the changes only impacted a few acres along the coastline, notably several potential development sites that sit at vulnerable areas a few feet from the Hudson River.Īs a result, in Hoboken, the revised maps now exclude several parts of the waterfront from the most strict building standards. The maps removed 76 percent of Hudson County from the highest risk Coastal High Hazard “V” zone. The revised flood maps are the updated version of the Advisory Base Flood Elevation maps (ABFEs) first released in late 2012 following superstorm Sandy. On June 17, FEMA released revised flood hazard maps for Sandy affected counties in New Jersey including Atlantic, Hudson, Monmouth, and Ocean counties.

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