By:Matthew Armstrong
JAMESBURG — The borough is close to agreeing on a settlement with SERV Centers of New Jersey that could land a 20-bed health-care facility on East Railroad Avenue, but also would help Jamesburg meet its affordable
housing needs.
The
Borough Council agreed on a tenta
tive settlement with SERV on
Wednesday. The settlement could
bring the facility to Jamesburg,
which could include several low- to
moderate-income rental units. The
rental units would count toward the
borough’s affordable housing re
quirements, said Borough Attorney
Fred Raffet
to.
The facili
ty is expected to be the home to
former patients of state mental
health hospitals.
The Land
Use Board rejected SERV’s origi
nal proposal for the facility in
1998. SERV filed a grievance with
Middlesex County state Superior
Court that November saying the de
cision was arbitrary and violates
state statutes guaranteeing protec
tion for people with disabilities and
that the board’s decision should be
overturned.
According to Mr. Raffetto, SERV
and the borough started working on
a settlement over a year ago. De
tails of the settlement will not be
made available until the Land Use
Board approves it on Tues
day.
How
ever, a portion of the settlement
calls for SERV to include several
low- and moderate-income rooms
in its facility. Mr. Raffetto would
not say how many rental units
would be included in the SERV
center.
According to Sidna Mitchell, dep
uty director of the Council on Af
fordable Housing, Jamesburg is re
quired to provide for 43 affordable
housing units. Of those, 36 must be
rehabilitation units, which will
count as one unit
each.
Ms.
Mitchell said nonage restricted
rental units may count as two af
fordable housing units
each.
Health
related housing often counts as af
fordable housing credits, however,
its eligibility is determined by what
portion of the unit is dedicated to
health care, and what portion is
dedicated to housing.
