VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - A regulation in Virginia's new building code could alter the look and feel of some neighborhoods near the state's coast in the coming decades.
The Virginian-Pilot reported Tuesday that the change will impact some of the Hampton Roads region's historic, inner neighborhoods that are in high-risk flood zones.
Newly constructed houses or those that need significant improvements will have to be built to the same standards as structures built closer to the Atlantic Ocean or Chesapeake Bay.
The regulation applies to many homes that fall in what the Federal Emergency Management Agency calls the coastal A zone.
Officials said that nearly 800 properties could be affected in Virginia Beach. Environmental groups said the change will make the homes safer and easier to sell.
