WEST ORANGE, NJ—More than three years afterSuper Storm Sandy ravaged the New Jersey coast, an overlycomplicated and bureaucratic set of flood regulations is makingshore (and inland) construction difficult, and the economicdevelopment that accompanies it, nearly impossible, anenvironmental lawyer dealing with the situation charges.
"Sandy opened a lot of people's eyes as to how flooding canhappen in a worst-possible scenario," says DennisToft, co-chair of the Environmental Group at WestOrange-based Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi. "Alot of areas that previously never flooded ended up being underwater."
The Federal Emergency Management Agencydeveloped a series of flood maps for New Jersey that changed the"flood elevations" based on the Sandy data, and also rezoned areasin terms of their risk of flooding. FEMAreclassified some areas previously designated "A-Zone," or normallyflooded zones, as "high velocity flood zones," or "B-Zones,"Toft says.
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Steve Lubetkin
Steve Lubetkin is the New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com. He is currently filling in covering Chicago and Midwest markets until a new permanent editor is named. He previously filled in covering Atlanta. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. His audio and video work for GlobeSt.com has been honored by the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced audio podcasts on CRE topics for the NAR Commercial Division and the CCIM Institute. Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies. Steve also reports on-camera and covers conferences for NJSpotlight.com, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC. Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996. Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional. You can email Steve at [email protected].
