I'd be concerned that the earth may be unstable, in which case your house (or pool) may 'settle' for years. Depending on the water table, you may not be able to have a basement or crawl space -- or only have one with a constantly running sump pump. I have sinus troubles and couldn't sleep in a first floor bedroom on a slab foundation due to mold.

Oh no, that sounds terrible. This house has a walk out basement in its plan. I am working with the realtor to help me find the impact of this on our house

You need the statute wording governing that designation. Then you need a legal expert to tell you what your development options are. Sometimes you can get that information from the local building department. Often state law controls. A specialist in wetlands may need to be added to your legal team. Someone beyond a regular real estate attorney. And someone for wetlands engineering. https://www.acerassociates.com/about

From what I understand, "emergent" refers to vegetation that is rooted underwater and grows above the water. It sounds to me like this is a marsh, and I would not want to build in that kind of area, not only because of the potential moisture challenges for a house, but because wetlands are important ecosystems that have been endangered by development. Someone building in such a place would normally be subject to a number of environmental rules and requirements. I would be surprised if that were not the case.

Is this a coastal area, which could become more marshy in the future due to climate change?

Not a coastal area- in middlesex county inland. From the looks of it the buildable land is backed by forested area.

I don't want to be an alarmist, but I'd want to know what regulatory body approved this development. Are there limitations on what can be built? What do you know about the builder/developer? Have area residents complained about the zoning? If it still looks OK, choose a lot carefully, considering the land elevations and the impact that will result from a lot of new buildings and impervious surfaces (roads).

Another impact will be on the municipality's services and schools. Be prepared for current RE taxes to rise shortly after the homes are occupied by families.

A reader's guide from the state of NJ on wetlands and what that means for property owners.

NJDEP-Division of Land Use Regulation-Home

Wetlands are often part of floodplains. And, as recent weather-driven disruptions have shown, so-called 100 and 200 year weather events aren't following the "rules".

Narula House on a tributary of the River Thames was designed for regular flooding with steel piers deep into the ground.

Agreed Worthy. Here in BC we are seeing weather events that are far from good. :(

I'm in NJ and I thought wetlands were protected areas. I'm surprised that it could be developed. Even if it has all approvals, I'd be concerned about future flooding.

Do you think climate change is real? If so, we can’t beat it. So do you really want to buy real estate in a wetlands area?

If you want to live in the middle of a mosquito infested swamp, may I suggest relocating to Louisiana and a pirogue or airboat daily commute back to civilization. They at least have the bonus of a huge diversity of wildlife to go along with the cypress trees and historic Atchafalaya stilt houses. Plus, you can’t beat having the gator garbage disposal as part of the eco system around you.

Definitely definitely contact a geotech to evaluate to soils, mitigation or specialty foundations like micropiles or soil mat may be needed to work with the water table and type of soil layers involved. and if your home is in a flood plain, especially if the event isn't the 500 year one, that means a design that is flexible for increased water volume (like ground floor garage and water resistant structure for that, with elevated access to the living spaces) might be your best bet.

It’s not necessarily a deal breaker but it is absolutely a flag to get as much information as possible about the site before you buy or build. that due diligence will make you more informed and could save thousands and thousands of dollars during construcfion or down the road. Or help you avoid a very costly mistake.

Consider what flood insurance is going to cost you. That alone might be the deal-breaker (or not..)

Will your lender even finance the house? The seller of my current house asked to rent back the house from us after we closed on it, because they were under contract to purchase a house that was designated floodplain and their lender would not finance it, so they had to scramble to find something else. I'm in a different state, I don't know what lender they used, etc -- but throwing it out there as something to check into.

We did get information on flooding survey that the builder did when he bought the land and the lot is NOT considered at flood risk. We are continuing to obtain information on what %of our property will have wetland if any (the builder is developing about 5acres of land with 6 lots and our lot size of 0.4acres)

Again, almost every flat-ish, sea level or tributary plain lot is a flood risk, it just depends on the event. ask them to clarify which event it is or isnt a risk for, or get the map from the county. The local GIS will have that obtainable. Not a risk for the 50 year event is a bit different in terms of design considerations than not at risk from the 500 year event. if you have thay specific data it should be helpful in considering if the landscaping or design needs to be modified at all for water considerations.

And get an independent geotechnical survey. Your builder’s favorite foundation type might be unsuitable for the soils you’re dealing with. Many wetland tracts have complex or problematic soil types that need to be considered. D and E are very typical.

https://anewhouse.com.au/2020/06/soil-classification/?amp

Maybe get your own independent flood survey.

We had properties in the NC OBX and even though we never flooded, the road would wash out in spots along the drive down, and many nearby properties had flood related issues. I was very happy to sell the last one in January.

Why would you believe the builders survey? His desire is to sell you the land, build the house and get out of there

M/M Lohan, have you checked the FEMA flood map for your area? https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search Just be sure to read any additional information linked to your results and note the dates. While it was helpful when we were looking at a "temporary" house in our retirement area, it wasn't updated with 2018 data until mid-2019, so what I saw was five years out of date. That can make a difference in some places. Keep in mind that a 100 year or 500 year classification does not mean a site won't flood in your lifetime, possibly more than once. Some folks sadly believe it's a guaranty of no flooding.

Towns in NJ have to provide a certain amount of affordable housing (which is a loose definition) and real estate developers get to build "market rate" housing to compensate themselves for the supposed loss they will incur building the affordable units. So for example they get to build 9 regular houses for ever 1 affordable house to offset the cost of constructing the affordable house. To meet the affordable housing mandate, the towns look the other way and rezone these wetland areas for residential development, when they really have no business being built on. They're sacrificing the watershed and ecosystem services of the land by developing it. Often the developer will regrade the entire landscape of the neighborhood and divert the water away into basins and ponds, so I think the houses will be alright as far as sinking or flooding, but I personally think it's a horrible practice.

What part of Middlesex county are you buying your home?

The builder owns the land. The builder got permission to develop it. Get a copy of all his paperwork and take it all to an environmental attorney (preferably one in your county). My concern is once you own the new house you will be limited or forbidden to do anything to it.

My sister and her DH are building a home in Montana. They set the footings to be 2’ above the flood plain. Well FEMA came in and reset the flood plain. Raised it by 2’!

Not much they can do about it.

yes, get the flood plain maps. I have them for our home. Had to get an elevation survey before the bank would let us drop the $500 flood policy. Bottom board is 6’ above flood plain! And that $500 policy was 23 years ago!

Walk away and don't look back!

My neighborhood, and an adjacent one, were developed many decades ago on a marshy area that had underground natural springs. The soil is hydrophobic, and so, despite catch basins and drainage pipes (one house is built over the course of a natural stream that was piped, and recently had the city come in to replace that deteriorating pipe at great expense/need for repairs by the homeowner) -- our basements are prone to water seepage, needing sump pumps, and we will have standing water in the back yards after spring thaw and all year from heavy rains.

I would contact the state agency that is in charge of designating wetlands; I also would contact my local university that has a geology or planning department to get an explanation and opinion from a professor who isn't beholden to political influence.

I have seen that my city's authorities are extremely "developer friendly" and will bend over backwards to approve their plans, which has included turning a blind eye to environmental requirements and violations (ie, developer promises to protect a stream, but oops, it got filled in by mistake.)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for protecting many of the nation's aquatic environments including oceans, rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, and wetlands. These areas are referred to by the Corps as waters of the United States. (WOTUS)

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act requires that anyone proposing to deposit dredged or fill material into "waters of the United States, including wetlands," must receive authorization for such activities. USACE has been assigned responsibility for administering the Section 404 permitting process.

I would definitely check with the Corps of Engineers to see if a permit has been issued.