Boro hires affordable housing mgmt. firm
BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

LITTLE SILVER - The Borough Council has hired an affordable housing management firm to assist in meeting the borough's obligation to provide affordable housing.

The council passed a resolution at Tuesday's meeting, retaining Community Grants & Planning Inc. Housing Services Inc., East Windsor, "for implementation of the borough's affordable housing monitoring services."

Borough Administrator Michael Biehl said Tuesday after the meeting that hiring a firm was necessary in order to fully complete the borough's plan to meet the third round of COAH obligations. However, he said he does not anticipate much need for the firm for at least two years.

"It will probably be a couple of years down the road," he said, "before there is a unit that's ready for occupancy."

Biehl said that the firm was hired to review applications for people seeking affordable housing under the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) guidelines.

"They will review applications and make sure the housing is properly advertised," said Biehl. "COAH is very specific as to how housing needs are to be advertised. They would also submit the applications to COAH to show that the people qualify."

The affordable housing obligations of municipalities are the result of a 1985 New Jersey Supreme Court decision that mandated all municipalities take steps to meet their fair share of low- and moderate-income housing needs.

The method by which COAH creates quantitative affordable housing obligations for municipalities takes into account fiscal capacity, employment, wealth and vacant land availability within a town.

The Round 3 rules were released in August 2003 and stated that for every eight new residential units built by a developer in a municipality, one must be considered affordable housing.

Affordable housing is defined by the state as housing that can be bought or rented with 30 percent, or less, of one's income.

Round 1 of COAH's fair housing plan focused on creating reasonable opportunities for affordable housing through the municipal zoning ordinances.

The second round was focused on the rehabilitation of existing homes.

The borough is working on exporting part of its obligation to a neighboring town but must still provide 17 units within its borders.

The plan for round three, according to Borough Planner Richard T. Coppola, includes designating a certain zone in the borough, in the area of Seven Bridges Road and Rumson Road, as well as a portion of Little Silver Point Road, where accessory apartments would be permitted.

"This does not involve new construction," he said at a Planning Board meeting last July on the borough's plan for COAH. "It can be a portion of an existing house or a loft area over a garage, but it has to have its own separate entrances."

Homeowners would not be forced to participate in this, Coppola said, but since COAH will re-examine the progress Little Silver has made in meeting its obligation every three years, if no accessory apartments have been created, COAH may force the borough to take another approach.

The borough is hoping to have at least 10 affordable housing accessory apartments eventually created to meet more than half of the town's COAH obligation.

According to Coppola, an agreement has been reached with Kalian Development, which proposed a plan four years ago to construct age-restricted townhouses at the corner of Oceanport Avenue and East View Avenue, and help to fulfill the borough's COAH obligation.

"The Kalian property," said Coppola, "was ID'd by the state as property that could be developed for this purpose."

He said that Kalian has agreed to build 39 residential units, seven of which will be affordable housing.

The Kalian development has been a point of contention for many residents, who have argued that the proposal, which originally called for more than 40 units, none built as affordable housing units, was too large.

The Kalian property, which measures nearly 15 acres, 10 of which are wetlands that cannot be developed, is zoned for commercial use, and the developer will still have to gain approval for the plan from the borough Planning Board

Biehl said that no plan has been submitted to the board by Kalian as of yet.