Town Hall Meeting to Bring FEMA Reps to Little Silver

From the Little Silver Borough Web site:

The Borough of Little Silver has arranged for a Town meeting with FEMA on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. to be held at the Markham School Cafetorium.  Please make every effort to attend and have your questions about rebuilding issues answered.  In addition, the Mayor and Council have streamlined the approval process for those residents impacted by Sandy.  Following is a list of recommendations and suggestions that the Borough would like to offer to residents planning to restore their homes:

• Any home that has storm damage will not require a zoning permit to repair or reconstruct if it remains on the original footprint of the dwelling.  The homeowner or contractor must fill out the cover sheet of the Zoning application (which can be found on-line) and submit to the Borough to provide a record of the work being performed.
• All Zoning fees for repair work to storm damaged dwellings are being waived by the Borough.
• Plans for all modifications must still be submitted to the building department with associated fees for approvals and inspection. 
• If your home was substantially damaged in the storm, FEMA will require you to get a declaration letter from the Flood Plain Management Coordinator to make you eligible for funding.  Substantial Damage means that the repair costs associated with your dwelling will exceed more than 50% of the value of your home.  Contact the numbers listed below for more information.
• We are recommending that anyone reconstructing their home or thinking about raising their home, raise the first floor elevation to elevation 13.0 (based on the 1988 Datum). The Mayor and Council are drafting modifications to the Ordinances that will allow the height of new structures in flood prone areas to be increased by four feet.  Per our understanding, knocked down and reconstructed homes must be built on piles.
• Associated driveways, porches and sidewalks that require modification due to the elevation change of the dwelling will be subject to zoning review to insure the modification does not impact your neighbor in any way.
• The Borough has authorized the use of two storage pods per property with extended terms for all storm damaged properties.
• The Borough has authorized the use of Manufactured Homes as temporary living facilities for all storm damaged properties.  The temporary homes will be permitted in six-month increments as needed.  The placement and tie-down design for the temporary structure requires review and approval from the Zoning Office and the Building Department.
• These recommendations are in conjunction with the upcoming FEMA Advisory regarding future construction requirements that will provide lower insurance premiums for Borough residents.
• Please check with a FEMA representative prior to starting any work.  We will continue to update the Website as information becomes available.  Should you have any immediate questions, please contact the Zoning Officer/Borough Engineer Gregory Blash, P.E. at the Zoning Office on Tuesday Morning between the hours of 10:00am-12:00pm, at 732-842-0261, or at 732-922-9229.