Governor Phil Murphy’s Democrats are proposing a ‘Managed Retreat From the New Jersey Coast’. Their first step is to adopt a series of building mandates that would require all new buildings and roads near the ocean and back bays to be built higher and stronger–like fortresses against the sea. This would make building costs, insurance, and taxes so expensive that only the very rich could live or vacation at the shore. Everyone else would have to leave for higher ground.
All this is found in a 1,057 page document issued by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) entitled Resilient Environmental and Landscapes (REAL). Click Here For The Link: NJDEP| Resilient Environments and Landscapes | Home
See also: A flood of regulations likely for Jersey Shore communities (pressofatlanticcity.com)
This goes against everything Jonathan Pitney fought for when he created Atlantic City in 1854. At that time, only the very rich could enjoy seashore living in expensive, hard to reach resorts like Newport, Rhode Island and Cape May, New Jersey. Jonathan Pitney dreamed of building a seaside resort that almost every American could afford. He succeeded by building a railroad from Camden to the empty, oversized sandbar that became Atlantic City. He also built a hotel and a Boardwalk so visitors could enjoy the ocean view and breezes without tracking sand into the hotel and railroad cars. Pitney’s success with Atlantic City was soon duplicated on every beachfront island from Red Bank to Wildwood.
A key to this success was building inexpensive structures as close to the water as possible. The first Atlantic City Boardwalk was a temporary wooden structure. At first, it was removed at the end of each summer season to protect it from storms. Yet even the permanent Boardwalks that were built later were easy to and cheap to repair and replace. So were most buildings in most beach towns in New Jersey. Fires and floods were common. Homes, guest houses, hotels, businesses and bridges were often destroyed and replaced every few years.
There weren’t even any sand dunes in most beach towns until 30 years ago! Jonathan Pitney quickly leveled sand dunes in Atlantic City to get rid of puddles that were breeding annoying and dangerous mosquitos and greenhead flies. Flat beaches also gave residents and visitors easy access to the ocean along with cool breezes and scenic views. Wide beaches and short wooden seawalls gave towns like Margate better flood protection than dunes.
Above Image: Headline Describes Widespread Flooding And Destruction From 1938 Hurricane in New York and New England. That same 1938 Hurricane also caused severe flooding and destruction in the beach towns of New Jersey.
Below Images from Wikipedia Articles On “1938 Hurricane” and “Brigantine Bridge”.
A hurricane in September of 1938 destroyed Boardwalks in Atlantic City, Ventnor and Margate. It also flooded and destroyed and many homes, hotels and businesses all along the Jersey shore. Another hurricane in 1944 did the same. Both hurricanes also destroyed the bridge between Atlantic City and Brigantine.
Destroyed sections of Boardwalk and Heinz Pier in Atlantic City after 1944 Hurricane. Historic lighthouse difficult to see in black and white photo.
One enterprising fishing boat owner used the money he earned ferrying people when the Brigantine Bridge was out to open “Captain Starn’s”, a popular restaurant and tourist attracting in the Inlet of Atlantic City.
There were also destructive floods during the “March Storm” of 1962 and the “Perfect Storm” or “Halloween Storm” of 1991.
“Superstorm Sandy” was less severe than the previous storms. However, it caused more flooding and destruction because it came ashore during a full moon high tide. It also lingered in the ocean where its northeast winds pushed water into the back bays. Then, when the eye of the storm came ashore near Somers Point, the wind suddenly shifted and pushed that water into bay side of barrier islands from Long Beach Island to Wildwood. Ironically, Sandy caused very little flooding from the ocean south of Long Beach Island.
Above Image: Most hurricanes travel in a northeast direction as they move up the East Coast of the United States. Sandy in 2012 took an unusual path. It stalled off the coast of New Jersey where its northeast winds pushed water into the back bays between Wildwood and Long Beach Island. Then it took a left hook into Somers Point, New Jersey. When the eye of the storm passed over Somers Point, the wind instantly shifted, and pushed flood waters from the back bays into the barrier islands. There was very little flooding from the ocean.
Even though it was less powerful than most previous storms, “Superstorm Sandy” caused much more property damage. Much of this was because for political reasons, the federal government began subsidizing flood insurance for expensive waterfront homes during the 1990’s. That was because Hurricane Hugo destroyed many waterfront homes in South Carolina in 1989. Dick Gephardt, the Democratic Majority Leader in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 1995 had Presidential ambitions—and close ties to donors in that area.
Governor Murphy claims that we need to build bigger, higher, more expensive homes, businesses and roads near the Jersey shore. Why? Why not build cheaper buildings and roads that can be easily replaced, repaired or moved after bad storms. Didn’t this work at the shore for nearly 150 years?
Governor Murphy is urging us to rush through his “Resilient Environmental And Landscape” rules because of “Climate Change”.
Climate researchers tell us that during the 90 years between 1911 and 2022, sea levels in Atlantic City rose by 18.2 inches, more than double the global average.
Last year, Rowan University Professor Andra Garner said that there were two reasons for this. First, she said, “emissions from cars and factories are making the planet warmer”. She also said land in New Jersey has been sinking “ever since the last Ice Age” when giant ice sheet that once covered most of New Jersey started melting 10,000 years ago.
Professor Garner failed to discuss an obvious contradiction in her statements. If the earth has been getting warmer and melting glaciers for the past 10,000 years, why is she blaming all global warming today on “emissions from cars and factories”?
Whatever is causing the seas to rise, shorelines have been changing since the earth was created. For thousands of years, humans adjusted to this by simply moving out of old buildings and cities when the seas rose and building new ones.
Cleopatra’s palace, like most buildings in ancient Alexandria, Egypt have been underwater for centuries. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians didn’t spend enormous sums of money to raise their old building as they got flooded. They simply left and built new buildings on higher ground when it got too expensive and inconvenient to stay! Shouldn’t we do that?
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