MANVILLE, N.J. (PIX11) — It’s a neighborhood that’s so prone to flooding that the state government had expressed support for elevating homes there -- lifting them some 10 feet or more above ground, and therefore above floodwaters that have inundated the community repeatedly over the last two decades. However, the State of New Jersey has now changed its approach, leaving many homeowners in the Lost Valley section of Manville none too pleased.
“Those of us who want to stay shouldn't be told we have to leave,” said Kathy Quick, a Manville resident who’s lived in her home for more than four decades. She was able to get her home raised 12 years ago, with help from a grant from FEMA.
“The opportunity is there,” Quick said, “if the state will reverse their decision, and I hope they do.”
The state government is instead saying that it will buy out residents to get them to move. A woman who's lived in Lost Valley for more than three decades who did not want to give her name said that the buyout amounts don't cover most people's mortgages.
“The state is making a very poor choice,” she said in an interview. “They're willing to offer [what] they say [is] a fair market value, right, plus the demolition price, but yet not offer a fourth of that, or a fifth of that to raise a house. It really doesn't make sense.”
The state’s Department of Consumer Affairs said in a statement, in part, “First and foremost, public safety is the primary driver of the policy.”
The statement went on to say that when it has flooded in the Lost Valley neighborhood of Manville in the past, “a few feet of floodwater cut this neighborhood off from the rest of the community and future flood events are likely to do the same.”
The DCA also said that homeowners who take a buyout through the state’s Blue Acres program are also eligible for federal and state funds to help them relocate.
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