DEWEY BEACH, DE -- Leaders in Dewey Beach are looking at the possibility of increasing freeboard regulation heights, or how high homes are off the ground, in some areas.
Last year, Dewey Beach's town council set a new standard for freeboard heights. Town Manager Bill Zolper told WBOC they used FEMA's base flood elevation calculation, or BFE, to set how high up the buildings should be.
"The average BFE in the town of Dewey Beach is probably about 4 or 5 feet," Zolper said. "We decided to go 2 feet beyond that just to raise the houses up further to make them safe."
However, Zolper said some areas, like those outlined in blue, are at higher risk for continual flooding. To combat that, town leaders are discussing allowing another extra foot of freeboard for homes in those areas.
"Most of Dewey Beach is in a special, hazardous flood zone, which means it has a good chance of flooding every hundred years," Zolper said. "This will increase the chance of the homes not being flooded, and the possibility that their insurance premiums could be cheaper."
The town manager told WBOC that the possible change would be voluntary for existing homes. This would be good for Phil Winkler, who lives in that flood zone and told WBOC he's kept his homea bit lower than his neighbors.
"You look around here and see almost everything's raised except for my home," Winkler said. "This house last flooded in the storm of '62."
However, with rising sea levels, Winkler said he understands why other people would want to raise their homes higher.
"This is one of the lowest places on the Eastern Shore," Winkler said. "It floods routinely. On the other hand, every once in a while I have waterfront property."
The town's planning and zoning commission passed the recommendation of allowing an extra foot in flood zones at their meeting Tuesday night. The possible increase would still need a vote from Dewey Beach's town council to go into effect.