Cape May County, NJ Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Cape May County is a low-lying coastal peninsula with significant exposure to Atlantic Ocean storm surge, back-bay tidal flooding, and accelerating sea-level rise. The county and its 16 municipalities all participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Effective FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) and the Flood Insurance Study for Cape May County are dated October 5, 2017 and identify Zones VE (coastal high-hazard with wave action), AE (1% annual chance flood with established Base Flood Elevation), AO/AH (shallow flooding), Coastal A / LiMWA (Limit of Moderate Wave Action), and Zone X (areas of reduced or minimal hazard). The Cape May County Planning Department (609-465-1083) maintains an internet map server with hurricane inundation, evacuation route, and floodplain layers; flood damage prevention permitting itself is handled by each municipality through its local floodplain administrator. Each municipality has adopted a Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance modeled on NJDEP's Coastal Model Ordinance; for example, the Borough of Stone Harbor adopted Ordinance 1633, the City of Cape May has Chapter 366 of its Code, the Borough of West Cape May has its own Flood Damage Prevention chapter, and the Borough of Cape May Point uses Chapter 90. New Jersey's Flood Hazard Area Control Act (FHACA), the Inland Flood Protection Rule (IFPR) effective July 17, 2023, and the Resilient Environments and Landscapes (REAL) coastal flood rule that took effect in January 2026 require new and substantially improved structures to be built to a Design Flood Elevation (DFE) that adds freeboard above the FEMA Base Flood Elevation, generally 3 feet above the FEMA 100-year (1% annual chance) flood elevation or 2 feet above NJDEP-mapped flood elevations, whichever is higher. Stone Harbor's ordinance, for instance, requires elevation to the Best Available Flood Hazard Data Area plus 3 feet of freeboard for delineated watercourses. The state Uniform Construction Code defers to ASCE 24 for foundation, breakaway wall, and flood-resistant material standards in V and Coastal A zones. Coastal development in Cape May County is also regulated by the Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA), which requires NJDEP coastal permits for most construction within the CAFRA boundary. The 50% substantial improvement / substantial damage rule of the NFIP (44 CFR 60.3) applies: when the cost of improvements or repairs to a structure within an SFHA reaches half of its market value, the entire structure must be brought into full compliance with current floodplain standards. In February 2026, Cape May County and all 16 of its municipalities filed an appeal in state Superior Court (joined by Ocean and Monmouth counties under a shared services agreement) challenging the REAL rules as exceeding NJDEP's statutory authority, but the rules remain in effect during litigation.