CAPE MAY – At its March 14 meeting, the Cape May City Planning Board, in a 7-to-1 vote, approved an amended site plan for the developer of a 13-lot subdivision on Pittsburgh Avenue.
The change allows the developer to substitute two off-site affordable housing units for the two on-site units that were required in the original plan approval. The two off-site units will be located on Lafayette Street.
Cape May’s municipal code states that any developer of five or more new market-rate dwelling units has a “presumptive affordable housing set-aside of 20% of the total number of units in the development.”
This leaves the developer of the Pittsburgh Avenue subdivision, Thomas DiDonato of Cape May Cove LLC, with a requirement to provide two affordable housing units.
The reason for the application before the Planning Board is that the developer sought relief from the condition of an earlier plan approval that required the two affordable housing units to be on-site within the subdivision of single-family homes.
The original approval was granted before the city updated its affordable housing ordinance in 2018. That ordinance now allows a developer to meet the set-aside affordable housing obligation by electing to construct the required units elsewhere in the city.
According to Board Engineer and Planner Craig Hurless, the 2018 change in the municipal code was requested by the Fair Share Housing Center (FSHC), a nonprofit affordable housing advocacy group that has been granted standing by the New Jersey courts. The city’s court-approved settlement agreement on its fair share affordable housing obligations is with the FSHC.
Prior to the hearing with the Planning Board, the developer met with FSHC and provided a Nov. 4, 2022, letter which indicated that the proposed off-site location for affordable units complied with the city’s agreement.
Hurless said the change was made to increase the opportunity for affordable housing development in the city because it offered more flexibility to potential developers. He added that the proposed two-unit location on Lafayette Street would be the first affordable units to come into the city since the 2018 change to the ordinance.
While the subdivision plan calls for 13 single-family homes for sale, the two affordable units to be provided as part of the required set-aside regulation will be rental units. They will follow U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rules on rent levels and the process for selecting tenants.
Located at 1134 Lafayette St., the affordable housing set-aside will consist of a two-bedroom very-low-income unit and a three-bedroom low-income unit. The developer has obtained the various approvals and permits for the necessary interior renovations on the Lafayette Street structure. Only part of the market-rate homes in the subdivision can be sold prior to these affordable housing units coming online, Hurless explained.
Board member Louis Belasco argued that the proposed location on Lafayette Street provided a more appropriate site for affordable housing because of its better proximity to shopping, public transportation, jobs, and the city school.
In the voting, Mayor Zack Mullock voted yes on the amended site plan but expressed regret that there had not been enough effort to possibly get three rental units in exchange for the two housing lots the developer would have been required to provide if the units remained within the subdivision.
Board Chair William Bezaire argued that any improvement in affordable housing in the city also addresses the issue of workforce housing. Most of the city’s workforce cannot afford to live within the city limits. In the end, the board was sold on the usefulness of the off-site units.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
