Cranbury reveiws COAH options

[Cranbury Press]

Cranbury reveiws COAH options

By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer
Posted: Thursday, July 31, 2008 3:07 PM EDT

CRANBURY — The Township Committee held an affordable housing work session Monday, filling residents in on its two lawsuits, giving a progress report for already met requirements and sharing the municipality’s three-pronged approach to respond to recent changes.

Nearly 50 residents attended the meeting, many with comments and suggestions for the committee, others expressing their gratitude to local officials for all their hard work.

The Council on Affordable Housing’s initial third-round rules, introduced in December, more than doubled the statewide obligation from 52,000 affordable housing units to 115,000 and increased Cranbury’s obligation from 160 units to 469.

In addition, the warehouse-to-job ratio used to determine affordable housing requirements for the third round was changed to 1.5 per every 1,000 square feet of warehouse, but following a statewide commentary period that ended in March, the council revised those numbers to 1 job per every 1,000 feet of warehouse and one affordable housing unit for every 16 jobs.

Mayor David Stout said Cranbury is lobbying against the changes, exploring legal options and monitoring changes in legislation or with COAH.

In addition, Regional Contribution Agreements, which allowed towns to transfer some of their affordable housing obligations to other communities, are now extinct because of Bill A-500, which was passed in both houses in June and signed by Gov. Jon Corzine on July 17.

RCAs made up nearly half of Cranbury’s completed projects, totaling 110 affordable housing units and helping the township meet its previous obligations, said Mark Berkowsky, president of the Cranbury Housing Association. In previous rounds Cranbury has executed RCAs with both Perth Amboy, for 76 units, and Carteret, for 34 units. It has a contract with Perth Amboy to transfer 81 units for round three, which may not be honored by the state due to recently passed legislation.

Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, who attended the meeting, was one of three Democrats in the General Assembly who did not vote in favor of the bill. She abstained.

Ms. Greenstein said her abstention was equivalent to a “no” vote as both votes stop the legislation from moving forward. Ms. Greenstein said her strategy was to leave a door open for future negotiations with other Assembly members, such as Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden), who had sponsored the bill in the Assembly.

Ed Schmierer, a legal representative for the League of Municipalities, said the League is pushing for amendments to the bill that would honor previously contracted RCAs and increase a developer’s fee, which was set at 2.5 percent of the equalized assessed value of a building, not nearly enough to pay for affordable housing units that would be generated by new development, Mr. Schmierer said.
...
http://www.packetonline.com/articles/2008/08/02/cranbury_press/news/doc48920959731fb437526582.prt