In the face of ongoing litigation, Milltown officials have formulated a plan that would fulfill affordable housing obligations at the Ford Avenue site.
The Planning Board voted on Sept. 11 to approve an amendment to the master plan and revision of the Ford Avenue Redevelopment Plan to allow for the changes.
In a lawsuit filed last November, Lawrence Berger, president of SB Building Associates and SB Milltown Industrial Realty Holdings, alleged that Milltown is not fulfilling its affordable housing obligation, among other assertions made toward the borough’s redevelopment agency and planning board. Berger owns the former Michelin Tire Co. property, a 22.5- acre tract on Ford Avenue that the borough wants to acquire for redevelopment as age-restricted housing and retail space.
“What the borough is facing is a serious challenge by the owner of the property,” Redevelopment Agency Chairman Anthony Zarillo said. “There are certainly tradeoffs, and there are certain decisions that need to be made to protect the integrity the borough.”
The new redevelopment plan would maintain the slated 276 housing units, but would change from being all age-restricted to including 114 senior townhouses, and 112 “age-targeted” condominiums. The age-targeted units would be marketed to and geared toward seniors because of their layout and number of bedrooms, but would be open buyers of any age, according to John Hoffman, special counsel to the borough. As originally slated, the remaining units would be rentals, but now instead being completely age-restricted, 36 them would be open to all populations. These units would be for low- to moderate income tenants.
Berger’s plan, presented as a builder’s remedy, proposes 550 housing units, none of which would be age-restricted. A larger portion of Berger’s units would be dedicated to meeting the borough’s affordable housing obligation. If he wins the lawsuit, Berger would need to obtain permission from the borough to go forth with the nonage restricted housing. “I think, if Berger wins, it would deadly,” Mayor Gloria Bradford said. “Even if the court said, ‘You can do 400 [units], you can’t do 550,’ it would deadly.”
The court appointed a special master who is well versed in state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) requirements, who will examine the plans of both Berger and the borough. Though a Superior Court judge has set a Nov. 30 deadline for the borough to submit a new plan that would satisfy requirements set by COAH, some say that the planning board should not have voted as it did.
Planning Board Chairman Jack Sulzinsky, along with board member and Councilman Randy Farkas, voted against accepting the new plan. Farkas said, because of Sulzinsky’s extensive experience in the construction industry, he trusts his judgment in this matter.
“If I was going to war, I want Jack Sulzinsky on my side,” Farkas said.
The new allocations do not represent what would be best for the town, according to Farkas. First, he said, the inclusion of additional non-age-restricted rental units could be detrimental because renters sometimes do not take philosophical ownership of their homes, or feel though they are stakeholders in the community. “When you rent a car, do you wash before you return it? No,” Farkas said.
Another issue Farkas had with the agency’s new plan is the additional school children potentially entering the district because of the changes. At a cost of about $11,000 per student, with higher costs for high school and special needs students, the taxpayers of Milltown cannot afford it, he said.
Aside from the financial issue brought by additional students, Farkas pointed out that it would increase class sizes and place a burden on teachers and administrators.
Zarillo noted that the borough must satisfy its obligation with the state, but with the least impact on the town.
“There are no easy solutions to this problem,” Zarillo said. “The key here that the number of units … does not increase, and at the same time, the borough is satisfying its affordable housing requirements.”
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Michael Shakarjian, vice chairman of the borough Environmental Commission, criticized officials for neglecting to address COAH obligations sooner. He said when the state rejected the town’s affordable housing plan several years back, officials did not take the necessary steps to meet the requirements.
“That’s what allowed them to be susceptible to this litigation,” Shakarjian said. “Somebody dropped the ball on this, and I know one or two of my colleagues are quick to blame [borough Planner Raymond] Liotta, but I see him as sort of serving the town. He’s hired to do what he’s told. It’s because of inaction on somebody’s part.”
Farkas agreed, saying the inaction has caused the town to be in its current position.
“Where the fault lies is not clear to me,” Farkas said. “As opposed to a person or an entity, I think it was more of a mindset.”
Bradford said borough officials did not neglect to address COAH obligations. After their Round Two plan was rejected, changes were incorporated into the town’s master plan to satisfy the requirements.
“It’s very easy to make a lot of accusations without fact,” Bradford said. “We have not ignored it.”
The amended redevelopment plan will go before the Borough Council next so that it can be incorporated into an ordinance. If approved, it would go back to the redevelopment agency, whose members would amend the developer’s agreement to include the changes, Zarillo said. The borough’s redevelopment agreement is with Boraie Development.
Berger’s lawsuit alleges that the borough is not in compliance with the New Jersey Constitution or the Fair Housing Act of 1985, because it has failed to provide opportunities for the construction of affordable housing. It also asserts that the agency, along with Boraie and the town, acted illegally by seeking preliminary and final site plan approvals for Ford Avenue without having his permission to do so.
Shakarjian said some residents are unhappy with the predicament they say officials have brought on, and there have been questions about whether a class-action lawsuit against the borough would be feasible.
“I think it’s a terrible thing that somebody did this to the town’s residents,” Shakarjian said.