to build six homes on
Institute Street tract
Council grants waivers
for Habitat project fees
Volunteer group plans
to build six homes on
Institute Street tract
By clare MARie celano
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — Borough Council members have unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the waiver of fees to Freehold Area Habitat for Humanity in connection with a residential subdivision to be built on Institute Street.
Volunteers with Habitat rehabilitate existing properties and build new homes in order to provide housing for working people who otherwise might not be able to afford a home. Those who buy the Habitat houses help to build them.
The zoning board approved an application filed by Habitat that will see the construction of six homes to be sold to Habitat participants. Two additional lots will be developed with homes at market prices. The tract is a 1.6-acre parcel on Institute Street.
The council’s resolution stated that Habitat has a "sterling reputation" and that the mayor and council have granted such approvals in the past in consideration for the "overall benefit to the community that is derived by the work performed by the loyal volunteers of the Freehold Area Habitat for Humanity."
The application to the council requested to have certain fees associated with this project waived. They include a waiver of preliminary and final major subdivision application fees; refund of application fees associated with the recently approved use variance; waiver of all building fees; and the waiver of cash portion of performance guarantee and acceptance of 100 percent of the guarantee in the form of a letter of credit issued by a banking institution.
The waivers granted by the council apply only to the six Habitat homes to be built on Institute Street and not to the two market price homes, according to Business Administrator Joseph Bellina.
In other business, council members unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the council to submit a grant application to the State of New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) Centers in Place Program in order to install brick sidewalks.
According to Bellina, the project proposes the installation of brick sidewalks from the intersection of Manalapan Avenue and West Main Street to the intersection of Throckmorton Street and West Main Street. The sidewalks on the opposite side of West Main Street will also be paved with bricks up as far as Lincoln Place if the town receives the grant.
Bellina noted there is less grant money available this year than last year, but said council members are hopeful the borough will be selected to be among the recipients of the grant program.
"We have to try," he said.
In order to qualify for a grant a municipality must be designated as a Town Center. Freehold Borough received its Town Center designation in 1997 and is therefore eligible to participate in this program.
According to the resolution, the grant "provides municipalities with an opportunity to support non-traditional transportation improvements that advance municipal growth and safety objectives."
The resolution states that the borough, the Monmouth County seat, is "desirous of expanding upon the improvements that have been made to the Main Street commercial area in incremental stages during the past 15 years." The resolution states that these planned improvements "will continue to provide a natural linkage among all Main Street business establishments, parking areas and residences."
The resolution also recognizes that the borough has already invested a substantial amount of money during the last 15 years in order to provide a redeveloped downtown business area that continues to thrive on both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
The town has recently received a grant in the amount of $300,000 from the New Jersey DOT Centers in Place Program. The funds will be used to improve the pedestrian crosswalks in the downtown area by installing bricks at at least four intersections and main thoroughfares in the town.