BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
Long Branch officials have designated a developer for scattered site housing to provide affordable units in the city.
In May, the council adopted an ordinance authorizing the sale of a vacant parcel on Fourth Avenue to a nonprofit group associated with Second Baptist Church.
A separate 501(c)3 corporation was formed for the development of affordable, scattered site housing for families with qualifying incomes.
Councilman David Brown, a trustee at Second Baptist Church, abstained from the vote. His wife also serves as the church secretary.
Dean Mon of D.R. Mon Group Inc., Shrewsbury, is the general manger of Riverwalk, Long Branch, the developer of the site in conjunction with the church.
The nonprofit was set up to receive the funding for the projects, according to Mayor Adam Schneider.
Mon has also been designated as the scattered site housing developer in Long Branch, which enables him to acquire additional property to develop and sell as affordable housing, according to the ordinance.
Scattered site housing is a program started a decade ago in the city in order to provide affordable housing to the work force in the city, Mon said.
Mon has also worked with Applied Development Co., Hoboken, in developing Procter Estates, a 48-unit affordable housing complex on Fifth Avenue.
“If the city comes up with more repossessed or abandoned lots, I will develop affordable housing units on the properties,” Mon said.
Schneider said Mon was given the project because he is experienced in completing affordable housing projects.
“Mon has done these projects in other towns before and has been successful,” Schneider said.
“We knew he would make it happen in Long Branch, and he has.”
A 43-foot by 150-foot parcel of land at 60 Fourth Ave., valued at $66,900, was sold to the non-profit affiliated with Second Baptist Church for $1, according to City Attorney Jim Aaron.
“This is just one project of approximately 15 to 20 that the city has done,” City Attorney Jim Aaron said in an interview last week.
The site is located in an R-4 zone, which requires Mon to construct a single-family housing unit.
The project will be financed by Riverwalk and sold to a buyer at an affordable rate, Mon said.
Mon’s group will receive the profits from the sale.
Schneider said the city will benefit from the project because people who could never afford to own a home in today’s market will become homeowners.
“[The city’s] contribution is the land,” Schneider said.
“We are encouraging the development of affordable houses. It is a great project for the city.”
Mon said the purchase price of the projects will be affordable, but will vary depending on the type of housing unit.
The project “will create no tax dollars in the city,” according to Aaron, who said “it is done to create market-rate housing.”
City resident Kevin Brown, Broadway, who has been trying to establish a church in the residence he owns, asked the council not to adopt the ordinance.
“Why is the church involved with the deal?” he asked the council at last month’s meeting.
Howard H. Woolley, city business administrator, replied that the city conveyed the land to a non-profit corporation that happened to be run by a church.
“You cannot convey [land] to a church,” he said. “And in order to make these units affordable, they have to be donated.”
Others spoke at the meeting to applaud the city council for its effort to provide affordable housing.
“I think there is a tremendous need for affordable housing,” Bill Nordahl, Marine Terrace, whose home is located in one of the city’s six redevelopment zones slated for eminent domain, said.
Matt Doherty of Belmar agreed.
“I would like to congratulate you on this step,” he said.
“[The project] is not the last,” Schneider said.
“We will do more to acquire land.”