Why a BUYOUT?
And what is the RECIPE FOR SUCCESS?
In the days before Superstorm Sandy hit, the Foxbeach section of Oakwood Beach on Staten Island had already had enough. Hurricane Isaac flooded streets and basements in 2010, followed by Hurricane Irene in 2011. Many residents of this multi-generational neighborhood, where several grandparents who grew up there now lived on the same block as their grandchildren, had just finished fixing their homes from the ravages of that storm. A few years before that, on Easter Sunday, a brush fire that spread quickly through the invasive and highly flammable Phragmites reeds, damaged homes and threatened many more. Residents stood guard with garden hoses as the fire spread. An aerial view would show how these homes incredulously sat in the middle of a marsh, a marsh that was designated as the "blue belt" by New York State. Even more incredulously, while the State was feverishly buying up unimproved lots to expand the blue belt to improve drainage for inland homes, the city was busy issuing building permits to developers. Welcome to Staten Island. The fire would destroy the berm that was put there by the army corps of engineers in 2000. It was erected as a temporary protection solution in response to the Nor-Easter of 1992.
Many will describe Superstorm Sandy as "the perfect storm". It was, I guess, from a meteorological perspective, but from my experience it was also the perfect storm from a Staten Island buyout perspective. So many things had to be in place before the storm for a buyout to work in NYC, and circumstances had to immediately develop to even lead us to a quest for a buyout. No one knew what a buyout was or how to go about seeking one before the storm. "Managed retreat" was not even very much a concept before the storm, and likely would have been scoffed at by neighborhood residents even if it were. Anyway, as things began to unfold, I began to realize that it would be my job to connect the dots.
When I first went to see my investment property in Foxbeach a few days after the storm, I thought maybe my strategy of not having flood insurance might have worked. After all, Irene was the "100-year storm" which gave me 99 more before l'd have to buy insurance! Turns out one of the first things that "had to happen" was for me not to have flood insurance. I opened the door to the house, which from the outside seemed to have been spared - including a perfectly intact picket fence, and immediately saw the immense destruction. The 15-foot wave that barreled through the neighborhood destroyed homes and took lives. The look of utter despair on my tenants faces made me realize that the last thing wanted to do was rebuild. But how then, could I re-coupe my investment? I knew instinctively that with such a massive event, that help would not come from within. I would have to look outside of Staten Island for help.
After wandering around, checking FEMA websites and following news articles on assistance, I happened to stop at a resource center at Mt. Manresa on Staten Island. This was a barely functioning Jesuit retreat, temporarily converted to a FEMA resource center. I went to visit the SBA who was at the site, and asked about getting a loan to rebuild. I explained my dilemma regarding not wanting to rebuild to the rep. He was contracted by FEMA, and explained that he had worked in other storm affected cities and towns. He quickly suggested a buyout. Honestly, it sounded too good to be true. It was, after all, exactly what I was looking for even though I had no idea that it existed. He referred me to Nashville TN and upstate NY, and gave me their respective website addresses and suggested that I call each one to learn how it's done. It was there and then, that I found my first glimmer of hope, but little did I know that it would be the answer for the long-time residents of Foxbeach.
The Enter Randy Douglas, town supervisor for the town of Jay New York. He explained what his county had done, in working with the Governor with their pursuit of a buyout. It was being pursued through the FEMA program referred to as Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). In it, the local jurisdiction took applications from residents and requested the buyouts through the State. Only the local jurisdiction could apply to the State -residents could not under any circumstances. This would be an important issue for us, as our local jurisdiction was the city of New York. Although Staten Island is a county (County of Richmond), it is not a revenue producing county on its own. Instead, it is one of the five boroughs of NY, and so our local jurisdiction would be the dreaded city council, and our small voice would be extremely difficult to be heard. I was not sure how we would get over that big hurdle, but stayed in close contact with Randy over the next several months. He would prove to be an incredible and trusted resource. In the meantime, Toni Plummer from Nashville started tutoring me on buyouts, and referred me to certain pages of the FEMA website as well as articles and resources from her city's website. She too had vast experience with buyouts throughout the country, but had stayed in Nashville for several years, as those areas repeated flooding necessitated several buyout rounds. In fact, because of their continued experience, I had happily read that Nashville held the then record time for a buyout - from flood to purchase -that I soon felt that our very competitive Governor would set out to break.
I was just beginning to realize that this journey was laid out for us and it was a matter of following the right path-a path that would be marked with clues and resources that eight ordinary people would have to decipher. Several weeks after Sandy hit, a community gathering was being held by the residents. They were gathering at a local Church, St Charles, which miraculously had never lost power from the storm. 200 people attended, with the intention of finding out where to get food, shelter and clothing. l attended, hoping to share what I had learned about buyouts. At the end of the meeting I was given the opportunity to explain the program as best I had learned up to that point, and asked how many people would be interested in finding out more. I was astounded when just about everyone had raised their hand. We immediately asked who would like to be on the committee to pursue the buyout. Eight people including myself stepped forward. We would meet every Thursday from that week on, until our buyout would be announced at the end of January 2013, at the College of Staten Island, where the Governor would invite us all to attend.
Our journey brought us to FEMA consultants, Professors, agencies such as DEP and DEC, non-profits, but only a few local officials. This, in of itself, was unique. Almost none of the residents trusted politicians. Especially in this instance, where most felt that officials were more advocates of building, as opposed to "unbuilding". We met briefly with the borough president, who previously had a disastrous "town hall" meeting featuring uninformed speakers in a crammed in HS auditorium. As expected, he deflected any assistance to "across the pond", where he obviously meant city hall. Christine Quin, the then speaker of the city council, agreed to a visit to Foxbeach, where she showed great compassion. Mayor Bloomberg had already publicly spoken out against retreat. She suggested that we go in another direction, which we interpreted as going towards the Governor. In the few conversations with officials, we quickly surmised that at that point we knew more about the buyout process than they did. So, we continued to do our homework and did not ask for a meeting with another official, until we knew exactly what we wanted and what we needed them to do. With, of course, the help of Randy Douglas.
My conversation will focus on the uniqueness of our experience: 1) Our buyouts were done from the bottom up. Ordinarily, it is local officials who draw the maps and reach out to prospective residents. 2)The many things that had to be in place for us to be successful. St Charles and Mt Manresa played critical roles. Governor Cuomo had first-hand experience on how HMGP would never work in NY. His experience with Randy Douglas taught him that. It also taught him that residents would need a financial incentive to leave. So, he created "enhanced zones" with bonuses for participation, and instead of HMGP, he channeled the money through HUD, which he knew implicitly having run HUD years before. By doing so, he indeed did break the record from storm to buyout- less than one year. I don't think he ever has gotten proper credit for that.
The challenge here is to be able to draw from our experience so that other communities can benefit. I will never forget the forlorn faces, dejection and despair of those who attended that first community meaning. Overwhelmed and without hope, they had no choice but to jump at the chance to be taken out of their dire situation. Fortunately, due to the quick action of Governor Cuomo and his generous incentives along with a cooperating real estate environment, most who participated recovered completely, at least from a financial perspective. Managed retreat gives a much better alternative, where you don't have to rely on miracles. Managed retreat cannot be accomplished without Trust. 5 of our 8 committee members lived in Foxbeach for an average of over 25 years. Finding community members that can take active roles in managed retreat, will help create the Trust that is perhaps the component most needed for success. Hurricane Isaac was a quick jab, Irene knocked us back on our heels, but Sandy was the knockout punch. How can you get communities to recognize that they are no match for the ire of the sea or rivers, before it's too late? Hopefully events like this one will help give information to vulnerable communities