a concern for residents
of Knob Hill homes
Manalapan attorney will
research fee structure
Maintenance payments
a concern for residents
of Knob Hill homes
By dave benjamin
Staff Writer
MANALAPAN — Residents who live in so-called affordable housing units at the Knob Hill development, Route 33, are pressing their case with municipal officials for equity in maintenance fees.
At present, according to a township ordinance, residents who paid below market prices for a home that is referred to an affordable housing unit pay the same monthly maintenance fee as residents who paid fair market prices for their residences.
All parties involved are now waiting for a response from the township attorney, which is expected in about a month.
"It’s not legal for us to be paying what we are paying," Knob Hill resident Kathy Casio told Township Committee members at the Jan. 22 meeting. "The issue is that every document says that what we are paying is not legal.
"Our buildings are so different," she said. "They’re drafty, cold, open and have no heating in our hallways. The other buildings have carpeting, beautiful chandeliers, and we’re paying the same fees as they are. We’re being robbed. It’s not right."
Committeewoman Beth Ward said she had been to Knob Hill and agreed with Casio’s description of the units.
Business Administrator James Devereaux said there has been an ordinance on the books since 1996 which states that all people who pay an association fee must pay an equal amount.
Mayor Drew Shapiro said he had sent a letter to Casio indicating that he would recommend that the township should petition the state Council On Affordable Housing (COAH) about the maintenance fees. Shapiro said he had been told the committee needed to get the approval of COAH in order to lower the fees being paid by the owners of the affordable housing units.
Devereaux said if Manalapan wants to lower the fees, it has to petition COAH. Additionally, he said COAH "essentially said that they want everyone to do what Manalapan does. That is, everybody pays 100 percent."
Casio said a letter from the state Legislature supported her issue.
Shapiro said the letter would have to be reviewed by the township attorney.
"We’re trying to decide on which route to take to try to help you out. We’re going to look into it and see if we can do anything," Shapiro said.
Casio said the residents could not wait much longer, since they had received four raises in the past two years.
Knob Hill resident Bob Steinmark made the point that the difference is at least $15 every month and could be "quite a bit more." He said the committee could change the ordinance because it was adopted prior to Oct. 1, 2001, when COAH changed its regulations.
"Prior to that date multiple maintenance fees were permissible," Steinmark said. "So the ball is in your court. Change that ordinance, permitting multiple maintenance fees."
Knob Hill resident Daniel Nodelman said, "Every month I sit down and write a check. Before it was $143. Now it’s $145. When will this end? Who can tell us?"
Nodelman said the large apartment at Knob Hill sold for $142,000 a few years ago while the smaller apartment sold under COAH guidelines sold for $72,000.
"If you divide $142,000 by 1,680 square feet ($85 per square foot) and if you divide the $72,000 by 860 square feet ($84 per square foot), it’s the same price," Nodelman said, "but in this square footage (referring to the COAH apartments) we have about 65 percent of the services. I don’t want to pay for services that I don’t have."
Deputy Mayor Rebecca Aaronson said if the decision was up to the committee the fee structure would have already been changed.
"It’s not our call," Aaronson said. "You need to let us go through the (proper) channels."
Township Attorney Donald M. Lomurro said he would study the matter and report back in about one month.
Shapiro explained that residents were given a prospectus when they purchased their units at Knob Hill and said the fees were contained in that document.
Additionally, Shapiro said that when a prior administration drafted the maintenance fee ordinance they were doing it based on the only affordable housing units that were in Manalapan at that time. The mayor said he thought Tracy Village contained the first affordable housing units to be built in Manalapan.
"Did they take into account others that wouldn’t be (the same in size and have the same amenities)? Obviously not," the mayor said.
In a subsequent interview, assistant business administrator Tara Lovrich said she had been told by township planner Richard Cramer that in 1985 there was a judgment and a court order was issued. The judgment said the Knob Hill affordable housing units could be built the way they were and they were separate entities from the market price units.
Comparing the two developments, Lovrich said, "They (the Knob Hill COAH units) were (also) built differently than the market units. In Tracy Village (the market price homes) are the same as the affordable housing units. They were definitely happening at the same time, but who started first and who finished first (was not known)."