ABOVE: Many modular home parks, like Ocean Breeze in Jensen Beach, have been replacing ground-level homes (right) with elevated homes (left). BELOW: A Briny Breezes resident sloshes through knee-deep water during king tides, which repeatedly flood residences on the west side of State Road A1A. New regulations will allow homes to be elevated 10 feet. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Related: Publisher's Note: Elevated homes a big step forward in Briny Breezes
By Patrick Sherry
Flooding is the price for living along the Intracoastal Waterway that residents in Briny Breezes know all too well, but newly approved elevated home rules are now raising hopes for homeowners who want to protect their community.
The town’s corporate board in March approved allowing construction of elevated homes.
The rule change means modular homes can be built up to 10 feet above the ground atop concrete pilings — with parking underneath. The approval comes after updated FEMA regulations that require new homes in high-risk flood zones to be elevated a certain number of feet above sea level.
“Briny Breezes is a very unique community that just doesn’t exist in today’s world,” said Michael Gallacher, general manager of Briny Breezes Inc. “If you live here or spend time here, you understand that and want to preserve that for the future because no matter how much money you spend, you can’t duplicate what we have here.”
Over the past few decades, rising sea levels and king tides have threatened residents’ homes with severe flooding.
In 2021, the town hired an engineering firm to create a resiliency guide to help the community plan for these problems. The report showed that tidal flooding and storm surges are expected to worsen over the next 50 years, with the west side of the town being more at risk. Along with suggestions of investing millions of dollars into infrastructure improvements, the guide recommended alternative building methods, such as elevating homes.
Town officials spent nearly two years holding public meetings to get input on creating regulations for the elevated homes. At first, they said that some of the community’s reaction was negative because many residents thought they would have to raise their homes right away.
“Nobody likes change, so that’s the biggest thing,” said John Corrigan, head of the town’s Architectural Review Committee. “The more people came to the meetings, the more people understood it.”
For now, the change applies only to 242 home sites on the west side of State Road A1A.
These types of homes are already in use in places like Jensen Beach and the Florida Keys. But town officials made sure to listen to residents’ input to create regulations and a design that fit the character of the community.
“We made sure that everybody knew that they do not have to raise their home — no one’s being forced to raise their home,” said David White, a corporate shareholder and Briny Breezes alderman. “Briny Breezes is probably going to look a lot like it looks right now for the [next] 10, 20 years ahead.”
Town officials don’t know the exact cost of a new home yet, but some estimate it could range from $450,000 to $500,000 to build the elevated foundation and cover the cost of the modular home itself. The price can vary because of soil testing to find bedrock and place the foundation. The total square footage of the home will also affect the total price.
Only a handful of elevated homes are expected to be built in the near future. Town officials said that some will be finished by the end of the year or early next year. Applications for them are already open.
The town is also in the process of getting funding for a sea wall improvement project and a drainage system project to further help mitigate flooding.
Officials agree that these plans are a necessary step to protect the future of the community for decades to come.
“Briny Breezes … as a community believes that they want to have their children, their children’s children — their great-grandchildren — have the Briny Breezes experience,” White said. “This is entirely motivated by people who want to see Briny Breezes last forever.”
Comments