RAID leader
named to lead
housing panel
BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer
HOWELL — A newly created Affor-dable Housing Advisory Committee will keep watch on local housing issues, especially as they relate to Howell’s affordable housing obligations, according to municipal officials.
The Township Council created the committee at its Sept. 15 meeting.
The committee’s chairwoman, Sharon Carpenter-Migliaccio, already organized a "smart growth" seminar that was held Tuesday night at the municipal building.
Carpenter-Migliaccio has been getting an education in state mandates regarding housing issues since the inception of the community group Residents Against Irresponsible Development (RAID), of which she is the acknowledged leader.
A recent victory for RAID was a settlement agreement over the proposed Fountains development.
The Fountains, which began two years ago as a proposed apartment complex with 348 rental units and a 20 percent affordable housing component, has since been whittled down to 100 age-restricted units and 26 single-family homes. RAID and its supporters attended Planning Board meetings and spoke out against the initial plan.
The settlement also removes the Fountains site from the township’s affordable housing map.
Carpenter-Migliaccio said she would like the township to avoid large housing projects, as well as any more rental communities, such as what was proposed with the Fountains.
She said the township already has "quite a few substandard housing issues."
The township’s focus should shift to rehabilitating existing substandard homes, she said. This would provide affordable housing without creating a hardship on residents who live in the community, she added.
Home ownership should be the goal, and not providing rentals, she said.
"We want to avoid large projects like the Fountains in the future," Carpenter-Migliaccio said. "Affordable housing needs to be done in the correct way so that it doesn’t negatively affect residents. Not everyone can afford a $300,000 house, and this includes seniors as well as young working families."
The other residents appointed to the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee are Dorothy Gratton, Stephen Moir, Lisa Witter and Maria Portilla, who is a former chairwoman of the Planning Board.