O.B. plans 194 units to satisfy COAH regs
Housing will be built for seniors and veterans
BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer
Old Bridge officials are set to meet today's state affordable housing deadline with a plan that provides homes for seniors and disabled veterans.

The Township Council and Planning Board voted to approve the plan, which calls for adding 107 rental units for seniors and 87 rental units for disabled veterans and their families. Both residential buildings are slated for a portion of the township-owned 500-acre Crossroads redevelopment tract near routes 9 and 18.

"I think we've really come up with an excellent plan," Councilman Kevin Calogera said at the Dec. 14 council meeting. "I think we're ahead of the curve."

Mayor Jim Phillips said he is especially excited and filled with pride over providing housing for veterans who have been hurt in the line of duty, along with their families. He said Old Bridge will be blazing new territory with the project.

"They're coming home, many of them with severe head injuries, many of them amputees, and someone should do this," Phillips said. "If not us, who?"

Phillips went on to say that the project is one he would wholeheartedly endorse even if it were not a part of addressing the town's affordable housing obligation.

Despite an overall vote to approve the plan, some took issue with it. Councilmen Brian Cahill and Richard Greene and Councilwoman Lucille Panos, who comprise the council's Republican element, voted against the measure.

Several times during the meeting, Panos voiced her desire to seek an extended deadline with the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) in order to ensure the best possible plan.

"Although the wheels of justice turn slowly, let's let them turn," Panos said.

Township Attorney Jerome Convery pointed out that if the township does not have a plan in place for the deadline, there is a danger of developers imposing builder's remedies on the town. A builder's remedy can allow for up to 12 housing units per acre, and render local zoning void.

Councilman Pat Gillespie raised the issue of the township being immersed in litigation with a number of developers, and said holding off on a plan would be too much of a risk.

"There is no extension," Gillespie told Greater Media Newspapers after the meeting. "And frankly, given the plan we got approved, I don't know how much better it was going to get. Even if we had a substantive change in the rules, I don't know how much better it was going to get for us. There's really no point for us to delay."

Gillespie went on to say he considers Old Bridge fortunate when compared to other towns throughout the state, where officials are faced with hard decisions in terms of planning for large numbers of affordable units.

When COAH first introduced its new round-three regulations, the township was set to come up with 711 affordable housing units. Since that number was derived from global mapping equipment, it was a rough estimate. Once officials determined that some of the land taken into account consisted of preserved open space and wetlands, the required number of units decreased. The town carried 147 credits for last-round units over to the current third round, which brought the number down even further.

The two residential buildings proposed on the tract, between Greystone and Marlboro roads, will completely meet the township's obligation, as the veterans' housing units count on a two-to-one ratio.

"We control our own destiny," Convery said in response to Panos' concerns. "We still have an excellent plan here, and I think you should endorse it."

Though all three council members who voted against the plan said they were in favor of helping seniors and disabled veterans, their issues with the plan remained.

At its Nov. 17 meeting, the council voted to approve an ordinance to convey the site for the two buildings to the township's housing authority. Panos questioned other officials about the price for the land, saying that while it was slated to be a $1.2 million windfall for the township, in documents it was listed as up to $1.5 million. She later told Greater Media Newspapers that she suspected members of the administration were trying to beef up the surplus in order to make the budget better for next year's election.

Convery said at this month's meeting that officials were still working to determine how many upland acres were on the parcel, which left the number uncertain for the time being.

In terms of the surplus, Phillips said working to build it is a standard practice.

"One of the ways we try to maintain the tax rate is, we try to build surplus all year long," Phillips said. "It's that much more money we start out with before we have to tax people. The goal each and every year is to spend our money wisely and reduce the burden on the taxpayer."

Greene took issue with the chosen location of the two buildings. Aside from his assertion that the land there, situated in a rural area of town, should be preserved, he had another problem with the site. Given the lack of nearby shopping centers or supermarkets, he said building the housing there is unwise.

"Here we are, we're building units for individuals who will be stranded," Greene said. "There's nothing there."

"Unfortunately, Old Bridge is auto-dependent for everything," Gillespie said. "That's a fact of life pretty much anywhere you live in Old Bridge. We anticipate that these people will be served by some sort of public transportation."

Both Gillespie and Phillips cited Maher Manor, which is senior housing, and Costello Homes, for people with disabilities to live independently, as two similar residential buildings that proved successful in town. Gillespie said the experience of building those units will prove helpful in providing lessons for the senior and veteran housing.

Township officials are anticipating a $500,000 grant from the county to help with the costs of the newly proposed housing project.