J’burg exceeds affordable housing requirements
Borough might sell
some surplus credits
to pay for improvements
JAMESBURG — The borough currently has more affordable housing units than the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) requires.
Most of the units come from residences that were constructed before the requirements were imposed, and the number of units makes the town eligible for grant funds.
According to Ray Chang, the COAH planner responsible for Middlesex County, the town has 70 credits this round, 27 more than the 43 the council required. Each bedroom in a low-income housing unit counts as one credit
Borough Attorney Fred Raffetto said that the town can use those credits to fill its obligation for the next round. Alternately, officials could decide to sell them to another town. A municipality can sell up to half of its excess credits as long as the proceeds are used to build or rehabilitate more affordable housing.
Raffetto’s records indicate that eight of the credits come from units that were rehabilitated in 1990. Forty more come from the Barclay Village, which provides homes for people 62 and older. Barclay Village was constructed in 1981.
The borough received 12 credits for the Cherry Court development, which was also built during the early ’80s.
A new development called the Serve Center is about to be constructed. It will be located at the intersection of Church Street and East Railroad Avenue. The center will provide 20 beds for mentally ill people who do not have criminal records. Once this project is complete, Jamesburg will receive 10 more credits.
According to Land Use Secretary Denise Jawidzik, the Serve Center has been approved for construction. Jawidzik said she does not know if there is a start date for the project.
Raffetto explained that despite the excess of credits, the borough’s obligation was to be comprised of seven new construction units and 36 rehabilitated units.
"We intend to rehabilitate 28 more over the next six to 10 years to fulfill the requirement of 36," said Raffetto.
Raffetto said that the requirements come from the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel decisions, a series of cases that ended in 1986 which dictated that each municipality must provide affordable housing.
The amount of housing required is determined by COAH, which considers how much land a municipality has, the number of residents and the median salary of residents.
Chang provided the affordable housing statistics for Jamesburg. In order to qualify, a one-bedroom residence must be available for $440 per month or less. A two-bedroom residence must be $555 per month, and a three-bedroom residence can cost no more than $792 per month.
The median income in Middlesex County is $56,560 for a single person, $64,640 for a family of two and $72,720 for a family of three. A household with an income that is 40 percent or less than the median qualifies as "low income" and thus qualifies for affordable housing.

