restrictions on building
behind senior complex
Housing for disabled
moves closer to reality
Old Bridge lifts deed
restrictions on building
behind senior complex
BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer
OLD BRIDGE — With deed restrictions now lifted on land located behind the forthcoming Maher Manor senior housing complex, disabled citizens might eventually have affordable living quarters of their own.
The deed restrictions on the 5-acre Barsel parcel, located at Route 18 and Ferry Road and owned by the township’s Housing Authority, were lifted by the unanimous decision of the Township Council on Feb. 22.
The tract where the Housing Authority has proposed building a 66-unit housing complex for independently disabled persons is also situated behind Maher Manor, an affordable senior housing apartment building now under construction.
Raritan Bay Medical Center’s Old Bridge division is located to the east of both properties.
Prior to the vote, Housing Authority Chairwoman Mary Ann Gurliaccio presented her plans for the complex, which feature amenities that would allow disabled persons to live on their own.
As with Maher Manor, the housing for the disabled would be built jointly by the Housing Authority and its designated developer, Pennrose Properties Inc. of Philadelphia, Gurliaccio said.
With Maher Manor in the works, the township has now received the maximum number of senior housing credits it can from the state’s Council on Affordable Housing, Gurliaccio told the council.However, the township could still receive additional COAH credits by offering housing for disabled persons, she said.
Many disabled children and adults use the services at Camp ROBIN, a special needs activities center located in the township-run Geick Park, Gurliaccio said.
"This housing would meet the needs of many," Gurliaccio said.
"What good does a vacant piece of property serve?" she asked before the vote. "I ask the council to amend the deed restriction."
Township resident Anita Clavering, an advocate for disabled persons, asked Gurliaccio to consider naming a disabled citizen to the Housing Authority’s board of commissioners to help consult on the proposed project.
"The disabled community has a voice," Clavering said. "We’d like to see a person with a disability serving on the committee."
Such an appointment will be considered, Gurliaccio replied.
Another resident, Edna Gordon, agreed with Gurliaccio that the disabled housing complex is necessary, particularly to allay the fears of the parents of disabled adults.
"The greatest concern of parents of children with disabilities is what will happen to them when [the parents] are no longer here, Gordon said.
The Housing Authority, joined by Pennrose, expects to go before the township’s Zoning Board of Adjustment with its plans for the project at a later date, Gurliaccio stated.
The Housing Authority and the township broke ground for the $13 million, four-story Maher Manor on Feb. 11. Once completed, the 100-unit complex is expected to house seniors over age 62 who are on fixed incomes.
Construction on that building should be completed in about one year, Gurliaccio has said.
Monthly rents for each of the 91 one-bedroom units will be set at $513, and rents at each of the remaining nine two-bedroom units will be $657, Gurliaccio has said.
Funding for Maher Manor came from a variety of sources, including the Middlesex County Board of Freeholders, state agencies including the Balanced Housing Neighborhood Preservation Fund, a program administered by the state’s Department of Community Affairs and the township’s Housing Authority itself.