Acrowd of almost 400 angry Marlboro residents shouted out their dismay when the Marlboro Township Council unanimously adopted an ordinance on March 5 that rezones the site of a former junkyard on Ticetown Road and potentially paves the way for a 176-unit affordable housing community.
The 176-unit family rental development is included in Marlboro’s affordable housing plan, which was submitted to the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) at the end of 2008.
The 100 percent affordable housing project to be built by the Ingerman Group would be in the area of Ticetown Road and Provincial Drive and would be part of the 1,673-unit affordable housing obligation Marlboro is facing.
Under the adopted ordinance to rezone the land, the principal permitted uses at the Ticetown Road property are multifamily buildings or existing single-family homes. The ordinance stipulates that there is a maximum density of 10 units per acre and that the maximum height for a multifamily building is three stories and 45 feet. No basement units are permitted.
The rezoning ordinance for the development also stipulates that 40 percent of the property must be devoted to open space. When an application for the affordable housing development is brought before the Planning Board, board members may request supplemental landscape buffers if they deem the planned screening inadequate.
The ordinance also requires that no principal building will be designed for or occupied by more than 18 units and will not exceed 200 feet in length in its longest dimension. No site plan for the buildings has yet been submitted to the Marlboro Planning Board.
Township officials tried to explain to the residents who opposed the rezoning that the action was necessary in order to stay compliant with COAH and to prevent builder’s remedy lawsuits.
In attempting to speak above the catcalls and booing, Mayor Jonathan Hornik said the ordinance was a procedural step. He said no one would be at the Ticetown Road site with shovels anytime in the near future. The mayor said the rezoning ordinance would be showing a good faith effort to COAH that Marlboro is planning for the affordable units.
The residents demanded answers and cried out when they believed their concerns were not being addressed by municipal officials.
Resident Maureen Miller wanted to know why the Ticetown Road tract was selected for affordable housing over other properties in town. Other residents echoed her question and sought to find out what other properties had been looked at for the development of affordable housing.
Hornik attempted to answer the question, but was drowned out by the crowd.
In a telephone interview on March 6, Hornik explained that Marlboro officials sought 100 percent affordable housing options in order to limit the amount of residential development in town. He explained that affordable housing developers select a parcel of land that interests them based on various criteria that can lead to them receiving tax credits from the state.
Hornik did not know how the Ticetown Road property scored in terms of possible tax credits, but said the Ingerman Group selected the property and brought the proposal for the 176-unit development to the township. Other factors, including access to sewer service, must be considered when planning for affordable housing.
Hornik also said the land in question fit in with the results of the township’s recent visioning process. During a series of public meetings, residents said they would prefer to see already disturbed land be used for affordable housing, rather than disrupting farmland, the mayor explained.
At the March 5 council meeting, residents called for other sites to be used for the development of affordable housing, including the Stattel farm at Route 79 and Route 520.
Hornik said the affordable housing developers checked all available land in Marlboro using the point system to calculate tax credits. He said he did not know how other properties scored in comparison to the Ticetown Road parcel.
Also as documented in the results of the visioning process, which can be found on Marlboro’s Internet Web site, residents who participated in those meetings said they did want any housing constructed on the Stattel farm.
Council President Steve Rosenthal said the developer who has put forth the Ticetown Road project agreed to come and speak with residents about the proposed project, but residents shouted him down.
Resident Paul Schlaflin noted that the original Mount Laurel decision in the early 1980s was simple, or as he put it, "Thou shall not zone the entire town McMansions." He said COAH has taken that simple edict and created more bureaucratic jobs then it has affordable housing.
Schlaflin, a supporter of affordable housing, said the requirements placed upon Marlboro by COAH are wrong. He said if Gov. Jon Corzine eliminates COAH, the obligation to build affordable housing under the Mount Laurel rulings would still exist.
He said the only way to protect Marlboro from once again being the victim of developers is to have a plan for affordable housing in place.
Many of the residents who attended the March 5 council meeting are homeowners in The Woods development near the proposed Ticetown Road affordable housing site.S
chlaflin noted that The Woods was built as a result of a builder’s remedy lawsuit — although it is not an affordable housing development — and said at the time that project was being discussed Town Hall was also filled with objectors to the project.
Schlaflin said the affordable housing development proposed for Ticetown Road is not a Section 8 development. That is a program designed to provide housing to very low-income households.
"It’s not going to bring in derelicts from the city. Affordable housing is so misunderstood. A family could be making $60,000 a year and qualify for affordable housing," Schlaflin said, trying to clarify comments made by some individuals at a previous meeting about the family rental units being a slum.
He countered arguments that were previously made by some Marlboro residents who told township officials that affordable housing should be built on major roads so people who cannot afford to own a car would be able to walk to amenities.
Schlaflin said he lives in an affordable housing community and said everyone there can afford transportation. He also applauded Hornik for his fight with Corzine over the significant affordable housing obligation Marlboro is facing.
"Folks, stick to your moral compass, you’re doing the right thing. This needs to be done, you’re going about it the right way, don’t go off track trying to please people," Schlaflin told the council members before being drowned out by the jeers of upset residents.
Other residents who spoke expressed concern about possible contamination on the former junkyard property and feared what could potentially become airborne if the land is disturbed in order to construct houses.
Some people spoke about a history of items, including car parts, allegedly being buried on the property during its time as a functioning junkyard.
One man brought documentation from the Board of Health which stated concerns about the health of residents neighboring the site.
Susan Grossman pointed to tests conducted in 2000 by developers Terry Sherman and Anthony Spalliero which showed high amounts of contamination on the junkyard property. Naming the surrounding residential developments, Grossman asked how, if other developers would not consider building on the junkyard property, township officials could consider allowing construction of affordable housing at that location.
Resident Mark Herrmann said the environmental factors in the area of the Ticetown Road property are quite unusual. He said he once watched magnesium burn in back of his house and noted that trees that are planted along the edge of the property consistently die.
Remediation costs on the land could cost millions of dollars, residents estimated. They said the council members should wait until the property is cleaned up before they consider rezoning it for affordable housing.
Rosenthal said that due to the possible high costs of remediation to the property, the developer is facing an uphill battle. With the cost being high and possibly limited state funds to help in the remediation, and the long process ahead, Rosenthal said it is possible that the Ticetown Road affordable housing development will never be built.
Grossman asked for reassurance that if at the end of the hearing the rezoning was approved, that the new zoning on the property would be conditional only to the particular project in question. The residents cheered as Grossman said they did not want to see 300 market rate housing units use the property if the COAH plan does not come to fruition.
Council members assured the public that the zoning on the Ticetown Road property would revert back to land conservation if the affordable housing plan for the site is not completed.
Attorney Gary Fox was present representing a group known as the Concerned Citizens of Morganville Inc., a nonprofit, and more than 100 additional homeowners. Fox said his clients are not against affordable housing and understand the need to avoid builder’s remedy lawsuits.
A builder’s remedy lawsuit, if successful against a municipality, can result in more housing being built in the town than was initially required under the COAH affordable housing obligation.
"We are here to say you shouldn’t rezone tonight, you don’t need to rezone tonight and you made a mistake in choosing Ticetown Road for a 100 percent affordable housing project," Fox said.
Fox said he is unaware of any studies, such as environmental and traffic studies, that have been conducted on the property. He said the council members, acting as zoners, should know that information prior to rezoning the land.
Officials said studies of that nature are conducted when site plans are crafted for the property. Those issues would be necessary requirements to address during the Planning Board process.
Fox said there would be official objectors to the plan Marlboro submitted to COAH.
"So why on earth are we rezoning for a plan that may not be one that is accepted?" he asked.
Fox said his clients are not in favor of 100 percent affordable housing projects.
Councilman Jeff Cantor pointed out that to not have 100 percent affordable housing developments could result in nearly 8,215 new homes being built in Marlboro, as opposed to the 1,643 affordable housing units required by COAH.
That is because developers in some cases build market rate homes to subsidize the homes they sell or rent at below market rates to people whose income meets regional guidelines established by COAH for affordable housing.
With the township’s plan maintaining rental units, Marlboro will receive 2 for 1 credit, meaning that for every rental unit provided, the town will be credited as if there were two affordable housing units.
"We need to do what’s best for the overall township," Cantor said.
Dan Matarese said the COAH issue must be addressed once and for all and said 100 percent affordable housing projects are the way to go. He cited how speakers who are opposed to the Ticetown Road rezoning listed concerns as to how this plan will overcrowd Marlboro’s schools, but he pointed out that to include market rate housing the number of school children would increase even more.
"If they (the residents) want to fight it, then let them fight it, but I understand from your (the Township Council) point," Matarese said, noting that without the rezoning on the Ticetown Road property in place, the plan submitted to COAH would be bogus.
In the end, the ordinance to rezone the Ticetown Road property for multifamily units was adopted.
"We are not pleased that we have to be doing this. We are doing this only because we have to, we are hopeful there will be change to the COAH rules and the regulations and COAH itself, and we will then get to revisit all of this in the future. But until that point happens, we have an obligation to preserve our plan and to make sure the builder’s remedy lawsuits don’t start," Hornik told the News Transcript. "This type of action (having the affordable housing plan ready and in place) defends against a builder’s remedy lawsuit. It says we are serious about affordable housing."
Contact Rebecca Morton at [email protected].

