Veterans’ supporters eye housing at Earle
Welch and Zucaro, who are members of the Monmouth Advocacy Team that advocates for affordable housing in Monmouth County, want to see the Laurelwood homes at the naval base off Route 34, Colts Neck, used for housing for senior veterans and disabled veterans.
Later this year the private developer of the Laurelwood homes will have the right under an agreement with the U.S. Navy to rent the 300 homes to the general public. The Navy is expected to build an unimpeded access from Route 34 to the Laurelwood development on the base.
The homes were formerly occupied by Navy personnel. The Navy’s contract with the developer calls for the Laurelwood homes to be razed in 2040.
In a meeting with Greater Media Newspapers, Welch and Zucaro said they realize it is an “uphill battle” to gain approval for the Laurelwood units to be used by veterans, some of whom may be young and have children who will need to be educated in local schools.
Welch and Zucaro said the Monmouth Advocacy Team’s proposal is to retrofit the Laurelwood homes for senior veterans and disabled veterans. They said there is a need in Monmouth County and in New Jersey for affordable housing, and said the number of senior veterans and disabled veterans who need such housing is greater than the 300 homes at Laurelwood.
They described the Laurelwood townhomes, which include two, three and four bedrooms, as being clean and decent. The units were built in 1981.
“We feel these would be better to retrofit than to raze,” Zucaro said.
Both representatives said the residents of Laurelwood would be eligible for Section 8 federal housing assistance. Prospective residents would be vetted by the Neptune Housing Authority, which has oversight for this particular military development, they said.
One person who is supporting the Monmouth Advocacy Team is Louis Parisi, who served with the Marines in World War II. Parisi is a past commander of Veterans of Foreign War Post 1337, Asbury Park, and a past commander of Catholic War Veterans Post 714, Asbury Park.
He said there are tens of thousands of veterans in New Jersey who need affordable housing.
“We have an obligation to provide housing for Americans, and especially for those who have served their country,” Parisi said.
He noted that disabled veterans who are returning from action in Iraq and Afghanistan have sustained the type of injuries that would have killed them in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Advances in battlefield medicine have created a new class of surviving disabled veterans, he said.
Parisi said plans call for using 275 of the 300 units at Laurelwood for senior veterans (age 55 and over) who are unlikely to have children of school age. He said the proposal is to set aside 25 of the 300 units for disabled veterans and their family, which might include children.
Parisi, a retired educator who spent much of his career teaching English at Manalapan High School, said the argument being made by some people that children who would live in the Laurelwood homes would be a financial burden to local schools and taxpayers is without merit.
“I can’t see any citizens looking at a young man (a disabled veteran) and telling that young man they are unwilling to take on the small expense, on an individual basis, of educating his children in (the town’s) schools,” he said.
During the discussion of what to do with the Laurelwood housing, a group called Neighbors Opposed to the Privatization of Earle (NOPE) has objected to the idea of allowing civilians to live within the perimeter of a military base.
While the Laurelwood homes would be separated in some manner from the base, there would be unimpeded access into the housing development, according to the Navy’s plan.
The issue of base security has become a focal point in some quarters.
Welch and Zucaro said they discount the security issues and said there are military bases that have civilians on them. They said they believe the Navy has a better understanding of Earle’s security needs than the public.
Parisi said, “I can’t believe the U.S. Navy, with all of its technology, is incapable of protecting its own people and its base. If there is a security concern, we have the right as citizens to demand that lack be corrected. If there is a breach of security, I can’t believe that we can’t correct it. I have the utmost confidence that the Navy would protect themselves.”
State Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R-Monmouth), whose legislative district includes Colts Neck, said the Laurelwood homes are owned by a private developer whose goal is to make a profit on her investment.
“How do we force the developer to rent those homes to a particular group of people? It is challenging to think we can make a developer rent to a certain group of people and set the rates for those rentals,” the assemblywoman said.
Casagrande did not take issue with the fact that there is a need for housing for veterans, but reiterated two key points: one, forcing certain rental rates to be accepted by the owner of the property, and two, the unimpeded access that would be provided to the Laurelwood housing, which she said, “does not assuage the fears of my constituents.”
She said that in accordance with legislation that was put forth by New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith and signed into law in late 2009 by President Barack Obama, the federal Government Accountability Office has started to analyze the situation involving the Laurelwood housing to determine whether the security measures will be effective and if they will be sufficient to protect the base personnel and surrounding community.
Smith’s legislation directs the comptroller general to “provide full cost estimates for the impact on local communities (including but not limited to impact costs in the areas of security, education, transportation, environment) resulting from the transfer” of the housing from the Navy to the private sector, and determine “the sufficiency and costs of proposed security measures to the Department of Defense.”
