Reader Submitted
To the editor:
During the recent League of Women Voters candidates’ debate, both Republican candidates seemed at a loss for well thought out responses to how to deal with Hopewell Township issues. So later Mr. Nicolao presented an idea for where to put affordable housing in a letter to the editor on the HVN website on October 25.
His idea is to put the affordable housing that is court mandated for Hopewell Township on the prison site in the far northwest corner of the township, right on Rt. 29 in Titusville. His reason is that this location is convenient commuting to many places.
Here are (only) a few reasons why this is not a well thought out idea:
1. This site is far too small for 600+ homes required for affordable housing.
2. There are no funds for building affordable housing on a stand-alone site, as the developers have no room for market-rate units at this location.
3. It would isolate those who lived there from everyone else in the community.
4. It couldn’t be more inconvenient to schools, any shopping at all, the library, restaurants, etc.
5. No thought was given to how this site would be turned into an empty “lot” for housing, or who would pay to demolish the existing buildings.
6. No thought was given to the fact that we must provide a reasonable opportunity for affordable housing in the next decade not years from now if and when the county decided to allow the correction center to be moved to North Jersey.
We residents of Hopewell Township cannot afford such top-of-the-head, seat-of-the-pants ideas to solve such complicated issues with such a long history as affordable housing.
Vote for those who have given this issue real thought: Mayor Kevin Kuchinski and Michael Ruger.
Vote for experience. Not wild ideas.
Billie Moore
Pennington
