OLD BRIDGE, NJ - Township officials are considering a land transaction aimed at taking a proactive approach to new affordable housing obligations. An ordinance introduced Monday by the Township Council would authorize the sale of a township owned 20-acre tract to the Old Bridge Housing Authority for the purpose of meeting new regulations from the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH). "We would never be accused of not planning for our share of affordable housing," Mayor Jim Phillips said. "This is a way for us to write our own destiny. The old adage goes, 'It wasn't raining when Noah started to build the ark.' "
The land is part of the Crossroads redevelopment property, which consists of about 500 township-owned acres. The parcel to be sold to the housing authority sits adjacent to land Middlesex County purchased from the township in March in order to construct a 180-bed extendedcare facility. The tracts are near routes 9 and 18, and Marlboro Road.
With COAH setting a deadline of Dec. 31 for towns to submit Round III affordable housing plans that meet the new regulations, Phillips said he and Councilman Reggie Butler, chairman of the housing authority, thought it smart to set aside some land for the future. "We had done this successfully some years ago," Phillips said. He cited two state-subsidized housing complexes near Route 18. Maher Manor is a low-income apartment building for ages 55 and up; the Costello Home for IndependentLiving is housing for the independently disabled.
Phillips said planning ahead will allow the township to avoid scenarios where developers can litigate and gain the ability to call the shots on what they will build. While the land would be restricted to use for COAH purposes, Phillips and Township Attorney Jerome Convery said nothing is set in stone as to what type of affordable housing would be placed there. "There are a number of different options we can go with," Phillips said. Housing there would likely be of a type that would bring a minimal number of school-age children to the district, and fit well with the county nursing facility next door, the mayor said.
Councilwoman Lucille Panos said she has concerns as to whether the township has already met the percentage of its affordable housing obligation that allows for senior housing. She, along with councilmen Richard Greene and Brian Cahill, the three Republicans on the council, voted against the introduction of the ordinance Monday. Convery said the situation is complicated, due to the new regulations. A meeting scheduled for Friday morning with Mark Remsa, the township's affordable housing consultant, will provide clearer information as to what is still required of the town, he said.
"The land sale is simply dedicating the land for COAH purposes; that's not necessarily dedicating the land for senior housing," Convery said. Panos remained skeptical of the deal, saying she wants to examine the numbers that come out of the meeting Friday. "As it stands now, I question if we have met our senior housing requirement, and therefore we don't need the senior housing," Panos said. "Until I know all those answers, I really believe, once again, that this is a one-shot revenue, plugging the budget again with a one-shot revenue we'll never see a ratable on."
Panos referred to the sale of 14.8 acres for the county nursing facility, a move she and Greene criticized as lacking foresight and failing to bring tax ratables that will generate revenue in the future. Though there is no set price on the parcel, Panos put it somewhere around $1 million. Phillips said surveyors are walking the property to determine how much uplands it has, since it will probably be sold for $100,000 per upland acre. He believes most of the tract is uplands.
Since the new COAH regulations apply to the time period between 2004 and 2018. Panos said the land sale might be too hasty. "Maybe we could have held off on that, and try to look for a good ratable," Panos said. "They're not sure what's going to happen there? That's scary to me. It could be low-income projects, as far as I know. We're doing our share, but we can't do it on the backs of the working, middle [class] people." Aside from the COAH issue, Phillips said the land sale would help the township to have things in place for when infrastructure projects begin, as is a typical trend during times of recession. "They bailed out Wall Street, now they're going to have to bail out Main Street," Phillips said.
Source: gmnews.com