New Jerseyans tell pollster homes should be rebuilt with tougher codes

A new poll finds New Jersey residents want tougher rules for rebuilding at the shore.

About 70 percent of New Jersey voters surveyed by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute say owners should be allowed to rebuild property damaged by Sandy but with stricter building codes to protect against future storms.

Poll director Maurice Carroll says the majority of residents expect it will take several years for the Jersey Shore to get back to normal.

“You look at the boardwalks nowhere, a merry-go-round that was there for 99 years isn’t there any more, a roller coaster out in the water,” said Carroll. “So people are taking what seems to be a practical approach.”

More than 60 percent of voters say they want the state rather than towns to pick up the tab for the recovery from Sandy and that they are willing to give up some local control.

“The Quinnipiac numbers say that people in this case will give up that cherished New Jersey let me paddle my own canoe localities stuff and ask Trenton to come up with the money and as a practical matter that’s probably what’s going to happen,” said Carroll.