Middletown balks, but passes housing plan
Three tracts would be sites for mandated affordable units
BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer

Working in tandem, the Middletown Township Committee and Planning Board have formulated a 10- year plan for providing affordable housing that meets state mandates.

The township's amended master plan housing element and fair share plan was approved on Dec. 11, but not before Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger aimed sharp criticism at the N.J. Council on Affordable Housing.

"I am completely and utterly opposed to what is being done to Middletown," Scharfenberger said. "This program [is] being done at the same time as New Jersey's property taxes are the highest in the country. To ask property taxpayers to subsidize this housing and force towns to build this housing in the soft real estate market just makes absolutely no sense."

The master plan maps out the way Middletown will fulfill its state-mandated obligation to provide 463 affordable housing units through 2018 as part of its Round III obligation.

To meet affordable housing requirements left over from the previous two rounds, the plan targets three sites for affordable housing — the Mountain Hill tract on Route 35, the Avaya property in Lincroft and township-owned property on Green Lake Drive.

Round I of COAH's fair housing plan focused on creating reasonable opportunities for affordable housing through zoning ordinances. The second round focused on the rehabilitation of existing housing stock.

Credits are given for each individual unit, with additional credits being earned if housing is supportive or special-needs housing, family rental housing, and very low-income housing. Also credits are earned for affordable housing in redevelopment areas as well as if the housing is for an accessory apartment program.

Therefore, 463 affordable housing credits do not mean that 463 homes have to be built.

The master plan was finalized 20 days before the Dec. 31 deadline set by COAH.

"This whole plan that we have been ordered to develop is being forced upon us by the state," Scharfenberger said. "It's an absolute state mandate and we have no say in it and we are being ordered, as have many other towns. We have done everything we can to stop this legally through court challenges."

The mayor and members of the Township Committee have been vocal critics of COAH but still had to come up with a plan to meet state regulations.

"We are being forced into a corner, and this is the end result," Scharfenberger added.

After the mayor's comments, the Township Committee left the dais so the Planning Board could hold a public hearing on the master plan.

The plan's stated principal goals include to "provide affordable housing to meet the township's fair share obligation" by demonstrating that existing zoning and planned changes in zoning provide adequate capacity to accommodate household and employment growth projections."

Also, "provide households with access to affordable housing to meet present and prospective housing needs, with particular attention to low- and moderate-income housing."

COAH calculates the required number of affordable housing units for each municipality on a formula that calls for one affordable housing unit out of every five new homes built, as well one affordable unit per 16 new jobs created in Middletown.

Under COAH's first two rounds, Middletown was required to build 1,561 affordable housing units, according to township data. During the third round, it will be required to build 463 units.

Middletown has 1,449 units of affordable housing on the books for the first two rounds and 121 units already committed for the third round, leaving a total deficit of 454 units.

According to the plan's introduction, "without question, Middletown is a quintessentially inclusionary municipality that stands as a model for all New Jersey towns seeking to comply with their affordable housing obligations."

"[Department of Community Affairs] Commissioner [Joseph] Doria recently lauded the township for its efforts to provide affordable housing," the plan states. "This plan is a continuation of the township's fair share of affordable housing for the next decade."

In his presentation to the public, Middletown Planning Director Jason Greenspan listed the characteristics of appropriate low- and moderate-income housing.

Ideally, the housing would be adjacent to or located within one mile of major shopping services to promote walking to places of employment and modes of transportation other than automobiles, including mass transit and bicycles. Also, the housing should be located in proximity to highways and major arterial roadways to reduce the length of daily vehicular trips.

"Another important consideration for selecting appropriate affordable housing sites is the ability to take a proactive approach to redeveloping existing improved nonresidential sites that are dilapidated, outmoded or are pending vacancy or demolition," the plan states.

The township is using three sites to fulfill its round-two obligations that were left over when RCAs (regional contribution agreements) were abolished that include: the Mountain Hill property on Route 35; the Avaya property in Lincroft; and is working with a nonprofit providing support and housing for blind adults on the townshipowned site on Green Lake Drive.

The Mountain Hill property is the site of the proposed Town Center that would be located on Route 35 from Kames Lane to Kings Highway East.

The 137-acre tract is being considered by the township as the site for the construction of 400 housing units, with 80 marketed as affordable housing.

Mountain Hill and Middletown have battled in court over development of the property for more than a decade.

"A developer's agreement will be secured to ensure all units are maintained as family rentals and to address other site-related concerns," the plan states.

If an agreement is reached, development of the tract would give the township 160 credits toward its affordable housing plan.

"It is smart for us to utilize that property as part of the plan," Greenspan said. "It had been a part of the prior plan, and it is smart for us to include it."

Scharfenberger agreed with Greenspan.

"As far as the plan is concerned, we had to include all areas [where] we could potentially carry affordable housing," Scharfenberger said. "It's not part of any negotiations, it's something that is being discussed to satisfy the plan."

The 68-acre Avaya property currently is the site of a 300,000-square-foot office building and expansive parking areas.

"The owners of the property have advised the township that the current tenant, Avaya, will not be renewing their lease after it terminates in 2009," the plan states.

Middletown feels that 375 housing units could be built on the tract, 80 of them affordable housing, which would give the township 150 credits toward its housing obligation.

Greenspan also listed the sites that were initially considered to be part of the plan but did not match the township's criteria.

The Murray Construction site, which is about 40 acres on Red Hill Road, contains a massive vacant office building.

"Strangely, the site is situated outside the sanitary sewer service area even though it is fully developed and contains a sewer pump station," Greenspan said. "This situation could place regulatory hurdles to developing the property."

Another large property discussed but later deemed inappropriate is the 278-acre Bamm Hollow tract along Sunnyside Road.

Increased traffic, and distance from shopping, jobs and transportation as well as the sewerage infrastructure were deterrents to including the site in Middletown's plan.

In the past, the township has used RCAs to fulfill some of its affordable housing obligation.

Under an RCA, a sending community may transfer up to half of its share of affordable housing units and the funds to build the units to a receiving community within the same housing region.

Middletown currently has RCAs with Long Branch, Red Bank and Asbury Park.

After a court challenge, RCAs have been banned by the state.

While Middletown currently has 500 credits for completed RCA units with five municipalities, the township claims that another 149 should be deemed compliant.

On Oct. 1, 2003, COAH adopted a resolution approving an RCA between Keansburg and Middletown for 149 units, The RCA was negotiated with Keansburg and approved by COAH for $20,000 per unit.

When COAH abolished RCAs earlier this year, the deal was invalidated.

"While the township reserves the right to proceed with the Keansburg RCA at $20,000 per unit at a future date, there is no reliance on these 149 RCA units for credits or as a compliance mechanism at this time," the plan states.

At the public hearing, residents were unhappy that the township has to build more homes, making the township more densely populated.

Lincroft resident Linda Snyder said that the township would see additional traffic and overcrowding issues.

"The safety of all of our families will be compromised," Snyder said. "It is unfortunate that the character of the village of Lincroft will be forever changed just so that Middletown can receive 80 units of affordable housing."

Resident William Brunt said he understands why the township is complying but wants to see action taken against COAH.

"COAH is socialism," Brunt said. "If you have a building that is currently on the market and you sell that building for less than it's worth, someone has to pay for that. Either the builder or a developer, but it comes back to the taxpayers — that's socialism. You have to do whatever it takes to stop this."

While the Township Committee and Planning Board did not use such harsh words, they wanted to make sure residents know that the rules are being forced on the township.

In August the committee pledged support for the New Jersey League of Municipalities' legal challenge of the method by which COAH determines a town's affordable housing obligation. Currently an extension to the Dec. 31 deadline is being sought.

"I do not like that they are called affordable housing 'obligations.' " Scharfenberger said. "They are more like a 'quota' that is being brought onto us from Trenton. Obligation sounds like we have a say in the matter."

Contact Jamie Romm at

jromm@gmnews.com.