MARLBORO — Residents who live in the area of a proposed affordable housing development on Ticetown Road filled Town Hall on Feb. 12 in the hope of preventing a zoning change to the property in question.
As part of Marlboro’s affordable housing plan, the township has proposed the construction of a 100 percent affordable housing community on a former junkyard on Ticetown Road near Provincial Drive.
A 100 percent affordable housing plan means that all 176 family rental units that would be developed at the site would be rented to people whose income meets guidelines established by the state. The rent on the apartments will be lower than market rate rents. Residents of any age would be permitted to live in the development.
An ordinance to rezone the land and permit the affordable housing had its first reading during the Township Council’s Feb. 12 meeting. The ordinance was adopted at the council’s March 5 meeting (See cover story).
Nearby homeowners who spoke at the Feb. 12 meeting were concerned about the way Marlboro’s affordable hosing obligation would affect the entire township.
Susan Grossman said Marlboro cannot handle 176 homes anywhere and that with family units, already crowded school districts would be stretched to their limits. She suggested that senior communities or assisted living facilities be considered instead of family units.
Township officials explained there are limits on the number of senior communities that can be created in order to meet the state mandated affordable housing obligation.
R
obert Renna said he understood that
the 1,673-unit affordable unit requirement was dumped on the current township administration, but said the proposed development on Ticetown Road did not fit with what he believes the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) would want.
Renna said he believes COAH would prefer such developments to be placed along major roadways where residents would have access to public transportation and stores. He asked that the plan be reconsidered in order to take such matters into account.
Also calling the Ticetown Road site illconceived was Maureen Miller, who said that as an area homeowner she has worked to build a thriving community with her neighbors.
“This plan acts in direct opposition to the state’s initiative as it will significantly decrease the value of existing properties in this area, greatly increase traffic and compromise safety on Ticetown Road,” Miller said.
She said Ticetown Road is not safe for pedestrian traffic.
Because the property in question is near the border of Marlboro and Old Bridge, Doreen Chevalier of Old Bridge also was concerned about the pending rezoning. She cited serious accidents that have occurred on Ticetown Road, two to three every month she said, due to the winding nature of the road.
Chevalier said Old Bridge officials had not been made aware of the proposed affordable housing development that will impact that municipality’s roads.
Some people who addressed the council said they believed the planned affordable housing development would be a slum.
Caryn Schmelzer said she was upset by the fact that most of the proposals contained in Marlboro’s COAH plan placed the affordable housing communities in the Morganville section of Marlboro. She was also disturbed by the fact that upon reading the plan she found only the Ticetown Road project would house “very low income” families and would not include any homes to be sold or rented at market rates.
All the members of the council and Mayor Jonathan Hornik said if it were up to them there would not be any new housing built in Marlboro.
“Nobody up here on this dais wants this plan to go through. We are being required to do this by your state government, we have no choice,” Hornik told the large crowd.
Addressing the concerns of residents who questioned the proposed locations in the Morganville section, Hornik said two of the sites included in the affordable housing plan do not have an identified location as of this time.
“They (housing units) are going everywhere and we do not want them to go anywhere,” the mayor said.
Hornik told the residents that if a small group of them would like to meet with the proposed developer of the Ticetown Road property to discuss other possible locations for the project, he would arrange a meeting.
H
ornik said Marlboro is participating in
a New Jersey League of Municipalities lawsuit against COAH.
“The risk the township has by not complying with COAH is far greater, unfortunately, then if we choose to just stand there and hold our hands and say no,” Hornik said.H
e encouraged the residents to reach out to their state representatives to address the affordable housing issue.
Council President Steve Rosenthal said he knows people who live in the area of the proposed Ticetown Road project and wished that Marlboro was not backed up against a wall on the matter.
Councilwoman Rosa Tragni said it is her hope the development is never built, but noted that officials have to comply with the procedural issue before them.

