Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
As many as 3,000 new housing units – including 653 rental apartments, set aside for low- and moderate-income households – are on the horizon for Hopewell Township between now and 2025, thanks to the settlement of a lawsuit over affordable housing.
Just how those new units may impact Hopewell Township – and how the township arrived at those numbers – was outlined before about three dozen Hopewell Valley residents at a special public information meeting last week.
The residents quizzed Township Administrator Paul Pogorzelski, planner Philip Caton and attorney Michael Herbert on an array of questions that ranged from the impact of the new development on the schools and property taxes, to who will pay for new fire engines and Public Works Department equipment and how soon the new developments will be built.
To put things in perspective, Pogozelski told the attendees that although the township is obligated to provide 653 units for very low-, low and moderate income households, it does not mean that all of those units – to include the market rate units – would ever be built.
Hopewell Township is obligated to provide an opportunity for the market rate and affordable housing units to be built, but it is up to the developer to build them, Pogorzelski said. The developer assumes all of the risk.
The real estate market determines what is built – including the number of units – and when it is built, he said. Developers will not build what they cannot sell. He pointed to the Brandon Farms development, in which it took 15 years to sell 1,000 market and affordable housing units.
Also, there are hurdles that a developer must clear before putting a shovel in the ground – beginning with the Hopewell Township Planning Board’s approval of an application, Pogorzelski said. An applicant will need approval from other agencies, too.
Pogorzelski said he did not think all of the development will occur in the next 10 years. But when development does take place, each developer is responsible for paying for the cost of bringing road, sewer and water infrastructure to their sites – not the taxpayers.
Also, the law does not allow the township to require a developer to build a firehouse or pay for a new fire engine, new Public Works Department equipment, new textbooks or additional staff for the public schools, added Herbert, the attorney. Property taxes are supposed to pay for those items.
“Yes, we all do pay for it,” Herbert said, adding that any increases in property taxes won’t be known until the units are built and occupied.
Turning to the public schools, enrollment has been decreasing and there are about 600 “open” seats, Pogorzelski said. It is not known how many children will move into the new developments – if and when they are built.
“This is a start. We will partner with the school district (to keep tabs on the number of new students). We can’t say exactly what will happen. Absorption (of new students) will occur,” Pogorzelski said, adding that development will likely occur over the next 10 to 20 years.
Herbert said he did not believe there would be an influx of families with school-aged children. Of the 653 units, 164 units – or 25 percent – are earmarked for senior citizens. The proposed development on Federal City Road, at the site of the former Oasis Farm Market, is geared toward young professionals who are unlikely to have children, he said.
Asked about alternatives to provide affordable housing, such as accessory apartments or purchasing foreclosed properties, Pogorzelski said the township has one accessory apartment today, and a maximum of 10 are permitted.
However, there is a deed restriction on accessory apartments to ensure that the apartment remains affordable for 30 to 50 years – which is a condition that many property owners are unlikely to accept because of its impact on sales or refinancing, Pogorzelski said. The property owner does not have a choice of tenants, he said.
“(The settlement) will have an impact. We are stuck with it,” Herbert said, adding that if a town does not comply, it faces “housing armageddon.” The courts will dictate the number of affordable housing units, he said.
