500 properties later, Blue Acres closes first buyout in Delaware Bayshore

Blue Acres reached its milestone recently of buying out 500 flood-prone properties in New Jersey, according to the DEP.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Blue Acres Program hit a milestone recently -- having completed 500 buyouts on coastal property in danger of being flooded, including its first closed buyout in Downe Township on the Delaware Bayshore.

Blue Acres was set up in 2013 in response to Superstorm Sandy and the damage it caused to flood-prone areas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has even recognized the program as being a best practice, according to the DEP.

Since its inception, Blue Acres has closed the purchase of 503 properties in 14 municipalities and eight counties. Out of the 806 homeowners that DEP offered the program to, 618 have accepted the offers. Out of the purchased properties, 371 have been demolished. Once purchased, the land becomes preserved.

"It goes without saying that the DEP and the Blue Acres program administrators have been incredibly responsive to the township administration and, even more importantly, to the residents who have been removed from harm's way and no longer reside in the flood zone," said Mayor John E. McCormac of Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, in a statement from DEP. "And the work of Blue Acres is not finished. Blue Acres is committed to financing additional buyouts of the families that still remain in harm's way."

The $300 million initiative is funded through FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program and other DEP funds, according to the DEP. 

There are 11 Bayshore houses in line for being bought an additional 12 interested in the program.

The program is not without its detractors, however, with Downe Township Committee in Cumberland County passing a resolution Monday declaring a fiscal emergency due to 85 percent of its land on the Delaware Bayshore preserved by Blue Acres, Green Acres, National Land Trust, Nature Conservancy and other organizations and programs.

"For them to take the properties is putting us in a dire financial situation, one that we are already in," said Mayor Bob Campbell. "I don't support it and I don't understand it. There is no justification or reason for it."

Campbell alleges that property owners have been coerced into going through programs like Blue Acres to get out of their properties, or else be regulated out of the area. According to Campbell, the area is more in danger of going under financially than it is going under water.

Blue Acres just recently closed on its first Downe Township property, according to the DEP, belonging to Natalie and Don Fisch.

The Fisch family told DEP that their road flooded regularly during high tides and full moons, leading them to be concerned about the local infrastructure.

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"Everything went so smooth for us," Natalie Fisch said in a statement from DEP. "We've been blessed. I'd recommend the program to anyone in a bad flooding area that needs to get out."

Concern about the future of the region surrounding Downe Township led to the creation of the New Jersey Delaware Bayshore Council, which hopes to advocate the preservation and restoration of the Delaware Bayshore and its culture.

Meghan Wren serves as a trustee on the council and founder of the Bayshore Center at Bivalve and, being so invested in the region, she feels conflicted about Blue Acres. She doesn't want to leave her area or see it be abandoned by its residents but, on the other hand, it's a personal decision for each person whether to take a buyout or not.

"It does put the rest of the residents in the unfortunate position," Wren said. "If a certain percentage decides to leave, the ones that don't leave are left with a larger tax bill. It's harder to convince even yourself that it's worth investing into a community if there's less people there."

The Bayshore has a culture that remains unchanged for a century and has the potential to be a showcase for the region, Wren explained, and it is just as important as other shore communities.

Blue Acres has bought land in Sayreville Borough, South River Borough, East Brunswick Township, Old Bridge Township and Woodbridge Township in Middlesex County; Manville Borough in Somerset County; Linden in Union County; Lawrence Township and Downe Township in Cumberland County; Pompton Lakes Borough in Passaic County; and Newark in Essex County. There has also been interest in New Milford, Bergen County, and Ocean Township, Monmouth County.

For more information about Blue Acres, call 609-984-0500 or visit www.nj.gov/dep/greenacres/blue_food_ac.html.