To the editor:
In the long absence of action from the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) or from the NJ Legislature, the court has imposed upon Hopewell Township an obligation to build 653 new, affordable housing units. To build them, the township has signed an agreement with developers to build an additional 2,881 market rate homes, a new community center, and the construction of more than 100,000 square feet of new commercial property near ShopRite, approximately the size of a new Pennington Market complex.
Deputy Mayor Julie Blake insists that Hopewell Township looked at every possible alternative. If readers are unaware of these alternatives, know that it is not your fault. Our local government has not listed these alternatives or explained in any meaningful way the process by which they arrived at their decisions. There were no open public hearings.
Rather, the township signed its commitment last summer, well before Mayor Kevin Kuchinski and Committeemember Michael Ruger campaigned on a platform of limited development.
Ironically, Kuchinski and Ruger ended their campaign with lawn signs that read: “STOP OVER-DEVELOPMENT HERE”. Events have revealed what they really meant: STOP OVER. DEVELOPMENT HERE. Mayor Kuchinski had to know at that time that their signs were deceptive advertising.
Township-wide open meetings were needed to review the alternatives they claim to have considered. Instead the township proceeded without public meetings of any kind.
There were two extreme positions: Should a developer build or should Hopewell Township itself build the affordable housing units? There are many possibilities in between. And where should the units be located?
Behind closed doors, the township committee decided that it was better for developers to build all the units. The township decided where to place them all. They secretly signed such intent in June 2017, ceding all of our bargaining leverage. But, did they take into consideration the enormous tax, school, and environmental costs associated with building 2,881 market rate units? Did they even investigate such consequences? These costs will live on, but we will likely never know the process by which the committee made their decisions. They just want us to trust them.
Open public meetings would have permitted a sharing of facts, a constructive dialogue, and a building of consensus. The only hope left for a decent process is for the state legislature to shape a more sensible approach on future affordable housing.
Senate Bill 2216, an attempt at a comprehensive approach to affordable housing, was voted down in January on straight party lines. Every one of the 22 Democratic members voted no. The township committee has expressed its support for Senate Bill 2386, which if passed might lower our affordable housing quota.
As John Hart has remarked, “The horse is out of the barn.” The township promises an open process moving forward, but, as the saying might continue: that’s like closing the barn door after the horse has already escaped.
Cheryl Edwards
Hopewell Township