By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Managing Editor
CRANBURY — Cranbury Housing Associates (CHA) has been providing for the housing needs of low-income, disadvantaged and permanent residents of the township for 50 years.
The Township Committee presented a resolution, which was unanimously adopted, to CHA acknowledging its five decades of work during the June 22 meeting.
“Thank you all at CHA for all of your efforts in supporting us,” Mayor James Taylor said.
CHA President Mark Berkowsky accepted the resolution on behalf of the CHA members and recognized the efforts of township officials to work with the organization as one of the reasons CHA can continue to accomplish its work successfully.
Incorporated in 1965, the CHA is a nonprofit corporation. None of its members are paid for their work or services.
Managed by a 12-person Board of Directors, CHA does have a hired part-time property management firm to handle the day-to-day operations of its affordable housing, according to Mr. Berkowsky.
Affordable housing benefits all Cranbury residents by helping the township avoid developers’ remedy lawsuits and high-volume housing but it also provides a benefit to those with low and moderate incomes who can’t afford market-rate housing, he said.
From its start until the mid-1980s, CHA was a hands-on organization, with many projects undertaken with volunteer labor and minimal financial support. For the past 28 years, it has worked in partnership with the township to meet the original and continuing affordable housing obligations established by the state, according to Mr. Berkowsky.
After the “Mount Laurel” Supreme Court decision in 1984, the focus of CHA shifted to one of being a management organization, seeking public and private funding, designing, constructing and developing new projects. The organization continues to manage the rental and sale of past projects and short- and long- term maintenance of the properties, according to Mr. Berkowsky.
Without CHA’s help, Cranbury would now have more than 1,000 additional houses as part of the community. Of the 96 units of affordable housing it has built to meet the township’s Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) obligation, 20 are senior rentals, 46 are family rentals and 30 are family sales units. Many Cranbury residents don’t know where the township’s affordable housing units are since they are so well integrated within the town, according to Mr. Berkowsky.
Currently there are 32 new family rental units planned for a new site, he said.
The income limits for affordable housing are established by the COAH and range from 30 percent for very low income to 50 percent for low income to 80 percent for moderate income of the median gross income of state residents. To provide some examples of what affordable means in Cranbury, for 2015, based on household size, a single person with an income of $36,750 would qualify as low income and a family of four with an income of $84,000 would qualify as moderate income.
CHA does need help. To become a member, send in an application with a donation of $20 for an individual, $40 for a family or $100 for a patron. The application is available on the CHA website at www.cranburyhousing.org.
Mr. Berkowsky said donations are not necessary and encouraged all residents to simply fill out an application.
“Only with renewing membership can we continue this tradition,” he said.
On July 8, CHA will be filing its case before the court as it pertains to protecting Cranbury under the changing affordable housing laws in the state.
Mayor Taylor said there is some concern about the potential for builders’ remedy lawsuits as the township has received letters from both Avalon Bay and Toll Brothers about Cranbury’s housing plan.
