Raise The Roof: Some Houses In Wall May Have To Stand Taller

This home on Belmar Boulevard may be on the vanguard of a partially changing Wall Township landscape, post-Hurricane Sandy. 

Several homes in portions of Wall Township will be unable to receive flood insurance, or be unable to afford the premiums, unless they raise their homes above flood levels, according to newly adopted flood maps drawn by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

The maps were adopted by the state of New Jersey in January. But Gov. Chris Christie at a town hall meeting in Manasquan recently said that he believes FEMA will scale back the flood zones in the maps, which were released in December, saying the designations were “too aggressive.’’

Maybe, but the Christie administration on Monday appeared to warm to the new maps when it filed with the Office of Administrative Law an adoption package supporting the standards.

The new flood zones affect residents around the Shark River from Route 35 an reaching westward to Marconi Road. Also affected are some properties around the Riverview Terrace neighborhood in southwest Wall, as well as a small portion of town near Old Mill Pond, according to the maps.