New Jersey finalizes higher elevation standards for the shore

SOPHIA SCHMIDT / WHYY – Starting this summer, new homes in flood zones along the Jersey Shore will need to be built 4 feet higher.

The requirement comes from a new regulation the state finalized Tuesday to prepare coastal buildings for rising tides driven by climate change.

“If you construct something today, … we could expect that it will live through the end of the century,” said Marjorie Kaplan, co-director of the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center at Rutgers University. “So, it just seems prudent to be protective” …