JACKSON – Fears of possible discrimination in housing at the Jackson Twenty- One development took center stage during a Planning Board meeting.
On Oct. 19, the board unanimously approved a major subdivision and preliminary site plan that impacted where 88 affordable housing units will be built.
Jackson Twenty-One is a residential and commercial project that is expected to include 1,541 residential units and about 3 million square feet of commercial space on 611 acres off Interstate 195 at exit 21 in Jackson.
Of the more than 1,500 housing units, 231 are designated as affordable housing units which will be marketed to people whose income meets regional guidelines.
According to initial plans for Jackson Twenty-One, all of the affordable housing rental units were to be interspersed among market rate housing units.
However, a new lot has been created on Freehold Road that will be comprised entirely of 88 affordable housing units for families that have a low income as defined for this region of New Jersey, according to representatives of Leigh Realty and the Walters Group.
While the change will not add or subtract from the total number of affordable housing units in Jackson Twenty-One, attorney Ray Shea, who represents the developer, said the subdivision plan included the relocation of 14 units from an adjacent lot to the newly created section.
Some residents who spoke at the meeting said the changes were cause for concern.
They expressed concern that the residents of those 88 units would be easily identifiable as people who are living in a more financially difficult situation than some other residents of Jackson.
“When a school bus stops in this new isolated section, everyone will know the child is from a low-income family and that is the discriminatory aspect of this change. It stigmatizes the families,” resident John McBride said.
Officials said the monthly rent for tenants who live in an affordable housing unit could range from about $400 to about $1,180, based on the size and number of bedrooms in the unit.
Ed Walters Jr., the founder of the Walters Group, said he understood the stigmas that can surround affordable housing. He said those stigmas could cause some people who live near such a development to become concerned about the possibility of crime and a negative impact on the value of their property.
However, Walters said, “Just because you don’t make a lot of money, it doesn’t make you a bad person. We build all of our affordable apartments as if they were going for the market rate.”
The Walters Group has constructed similar housing projects in Barnegat, Stafford and Lacey.
Officials said the changes in the Jackson Twenty-One plan were part of a requirement to receive funding from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA).
On Sept. 24, Stafford Development, LLC, a subsidiary of the Walters Group, filed a request for action from the NJHMFA to receive approximately $15.3 million in low-interest loans from a superstorm Sandy-related fund called the Fund for Restoration of Multi-Family Housing.
To meet the requirements necessary to receive those funds, the developer needs to give special preference to families who were displaced by the October 2012 storm.
Project engineer Dave Eareckson said the subdivision would speed up the construction of affordable housing units and help Jackson meet its state mandated obligation to provide opportunities for the construction of affordable housing.
“This section of 88 units is really being driven by the NJHFMA and … it will be a benefit to the town because it will bring (affordable housing) units quicker than the development would have brought before,” Eareckson said.
Leigh Realty manager Tom Bovino said the new section will be a more efficient use of time for the project. He estimated that the 88 affordable housing units could be completed by 2017.
According to the Jackson Twenty-One website, housing will be built in sections to be known as the Quads, the Woods, the Townhomes, the Village Green, the Gardens and La Colonie des Artistes. Plans also include a sports facility, an entertainment complex with an IMAX theater, studios for musicians and artists, shops, offices and a restaurant row. There will also be a recreation center and a swimming pool.