Middletown slams state housing quota
Resolution tells state affordable housing rules need to be changed
BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN - The Township Committee is unhappy with the Council on Affordable Housing and is letting the state agency know about it.

The committee's request for a hiatus from COAH's proposed third-round rules and from the Fair Housing Act came in the form of a resolution adopted by committee members at the March 17 meeting.

Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger referred to the newly revised rules as "another round of unfunded, unrealistic affordable housing mandates that are in direct conflict with our commitment to maintain a stable tax rate, preserve dwindling open spaces and protect the character of our neighborhoods that will be detrimental to this community's quality of life."

The matter was discussed at the meeting when Committeeman Sean Byrnes wanted to discuss the language used in the resolution.

He referred to some of the wording as "harsh" and wanted to use more reasonable terms.

"We should express ourselves as a municipal body without using the strong language in the resolution that I feel is a bit over the line," Byrnes said. "I don't really think it adds anything to our opinion."

Scharfenberger felt that the use of "stronger" words was appropriate.

"I think what we are saying is exactly what needs to be said," Scharfenberger said. "Some of these things are just ridiculous."

The resolution passed with its current wording by a 3-2 vote and the township sent out a press release to announce the resolution.

"New Jerseyans are already facing high property taxes, budgetary stresses at all levels of government and a sensitive housing market," Scharfenberger said. "The key to making housing more affordable for all New Jerseyans is to rid the state of the yoke of costly government programs and cumbersome unfunded mandates and create a more equitable funding system for essential services."

The state's affordable housing program is the result of court decisions that mandated that municipalities like Middletown provide a percentage of its housing stock for low- and moderate-income households.

The number of units is tied directly to population, the number of existing and future market rate units and jobs within a municipality.

At present,Middletown's obligation for COAH rounds one through three stands in the neighborhood of 2,160 affordable housing units.

"Middletown has every intention of satisfying its constitutional obligation just as we always have," Scharfenberger said in the release. "However, we need all the help we can get to ensure that such compliance is not crippling to the budget."

Middletown has also engaged in a wide array of housing activities that have included rehabilitation of existing singlefamily dwellings; creation of accessory apartments; construction of individual housing units on scattered sites; construction of housing units above commercial stores; 240 new affordable senior citizen housing units, and more than 150 nonsenior affordable units within other new housing developments, according to the press release.

COAH's third-round rules would require municipalities to permit the construction of high-density housing within their borders to meet a greater percentage of their affordable housing obligations.

According to Middletown Planning Director Anthony Mercantante, the thirdround rules would also raise the per-unit cost of Regional Contribution Agreements to unaffordable levels.

"Such an increase, with no factual basis to support it, will discourage or even preclude the rehabilitation of existing housing units in areas that have a demonstrated need and interest in these agreements," Mercantante said in the press release.

An RCA is an agreement between two municipalities in which one town pays another a per-unit fee to assume a portion of its affordable housing obligation.

This is the second resolution that Middletown has sent to COAH, with the last being voted on Dec. 3. That resolution asked the council to reconsider the third round rules and to continue the use of RCAs.