Norfolk Sea Level Rise: Lure of Waterfront Homes Lessens, Homeowners Get Innovative

November 12, 2009

For years in the Hampton Roads owning a waterfront home has been the goal of many and waterfront homes have demanded premium prices as a result.  Now, with rising sea levels, some are rethinking that goal and existing homeowners are finding that a waterfront property may be more of a challenge to sell if the home has flooded previously.  As sea levels continue to rise, this phenomenon will not be limited to Norfolk and other Hampton Roads cities, but will effect many localities on the east coast - Miami and New York City are but two major metropolitan areas with threatened waterfronts.  As noted before, the husband and I have made major modifications/improvements to our home to address the threat of flooding: water resistant materials from the floor to chair height throughout the entire first floor and marble floors that cam be simply mopped up throughout the first floor; three large industrial sump pumps to address any water that might get into the house; and a whole house generator to keep the pumps running in the event of a hurricane power  outage.  A piece in the Virginian Pilot looks at what some are doing in Norfolk neighboehoods.  Here are highlights:

Soon after Mary-Carson and Josh Stiff got married last year, they began talking about buying a house.  Josh, 30, wanted to live in Norfolk to be near his law office. Mary-Carson, 28, wasn't so sure. Sea level rise and the chronic flooding that plagues the city worried her.

"My concern was, it might not be a wise place to invest in general," she said.

Her worry was grounded in her work. A consultant at the College of William & Mary Law School's Virginia Coastal Policy Clinic who now works part time as policy director for the local environmental group Wetlands Watch, Mary-Carson has been immersed in sea level rise policy work for months. She's well-acquainted with the piles of studies, reports and charts that show Norfolk is one of the country's most vulnerable cities.

I think everyone in Hampton Roads has rose-colored glasses when it comes to a picturesque home on the waterfront, with a dock and a boat and a kayak. That life is sweet and has a place in my heart, but it's no longer what I dream about."

The newlyweds forged a compromise. They would search for a home in Norfolk to be near Josh's office. But it could not be in a flood plain, susceptible to rising seas, storm surge and escalating flood insurance prices.

Their decision is one glimpse into the changing dynamics of coastal real estate. A growing awareness of sea level rise and flooding, coupled with rising flood insurance premiums as the federal government phases out subsidies, has the potential to reshape segments of the Hampton Roads market.

Real estate agent Kathy Heaton found herself on the flip side of the growing concern, and perhaps at the forefront of a new trend.  For months, the Nancy Chandler and Associates agent had been trying to sell a home in the desirable Norfolk neighborhood of Larchmont. The problem: Like many homes in that area, it's in a high-risk flood plain. Flood insurance could run up to $3,500 based on estimates she's seen.  That would add almost $300 to a monthly mortgage, an amount many buyers Heaton has encountered would rather put into the cost of a home.
 
About a quarter of properties in Norfolk - just over 17,000 - are in high-risk flood plains, with values totaling 34 percent of the tax base, according to city figures.  The number of homes that repeatedly flood, so-called "repetitive loss" properties, has increased from about 200 in 2002 to almost 900 today, said Lenny Newcomb, the city's zoning administrator.

The Larchmont home has been so difficult for Heaton to sell that a creative solution is in the works that could be a model for flood zone homes in the future.  The idea is to make changes to the home to reduce flood damage and drive down insurance rates.

In this case, contractors would move the furnace, hot water heater and electric panel from the basement of the 1920s home into a newly created utility room in the upper part of the house. The basement would then be filled in, and vents would be added to allow floodwater to move in and then out from under the house.  The work would cost about $15,000, said Mike Vernon, director of business development for Flood Mitigation Hampton Roads, a new company that would do the job.

Local climate change deniers - most of whom are Republicans - say "Norfolk has always flooded," ignoring the fact that things are getting much worse at a steady pace.  Sticking one's head in the sand does not make a problem go away. With the Commonwealth of Virginia still lacking any plan to deal with sea level rise, many homeowners will need to come up with their own plans to protect their properties and maintain their values.  The husband and I have spent a lot of money on our home but as one friend said, if we had not done so, "who is going to buy it/"