A small group of residents in Ocean County, New Jersey have lawyered up to resist a state and federal project to build 22 miles of sand dunes to protect the New Jersey coast.
"Almost four years after Superstorm Sandy devastated New Jersey, an ambitious plan to protect vulnerable areas of the Shore is stalled in the courts amid growing doubts about the state’s ability to pay the long-term costs of the project," according to an article by Jeff Pillets.
Pillets reports that "taxpayers have already spent more than $4 million in legal fees to battle more than 300 shorefront property owners who want no part of a plan that would erect 25-foot-high dunes along a 14-mile stretch of northern Ocean County that was battered by Sandy."
The group of 14 Bay Head property owners have spent $2.5 million of their own money to make the case that the government should not be responsible for protecting their homes.
According to Pillet's explanation of the proposed project, "costs to build and maintain the massive sand piles will reach nearly $1 billion in the next 50 years. That cost would cover about 22 miles of shoreline, the Ocean County stretch in addition to an 8-mile-segment of beachfront from Atlantic City through the communities of Margate, Ventnor and Longport." Most of those costs are expected to go to maintenance, after construction is complete.
FULL STORY: Legal fees mount as N.J. dune battle drags on
Are Tall Buildings Safer When It Floods?
Conventional wisdom is that the most resilient city is that keeps high-density housing out of flood zones. But if flooding can happen miles inland, is that still true?
Army Corps Proposes Sea Barriers to Protect New York from Rising Seas
A massive infrastructure project is on the table in New York, after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a new feasibility study.
New York's Post-Sandy Resilience Plans Have Lost Momentum
New York, like every other city in the United States, isn't more prepared for a major storm event than it was on October 29, 2012.
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
USDOT Revokes Approval for NYC Congestion Pricing
Despite the administration’s stated concern for the “working class,” 85 percent of Manhattan commuters use public transit to enter the city.
‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.
Decarbonizing Homes: The Case for Electrifying Residential Heating
A new MIT study finds that transitioning residential heating from natural gas to electric heat pumps can significantly reduce carbon emissions and operational costs.
Preserving Altadena’s Trees: A Community Effort to Save a Fire-Damaged Landscape
In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena Green is working to preserve fire-damaged but recoverable trees, advocating for better assessment processes, educating homeowners, and protecting the community’s urban canopy from unnecessary removal.
The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research