COURT HOUSE – Middle Township Committee introduced three ordinances May 16 that could impact the municipality’s availability of affordable housing.
The changes would bring the municipality into compliance with the settlement it reached in January with the Fair Share Housing Center (FSHC) concerning the municipality’s affordable housing obligations.
In one ordinance, the municipality amended its affordability housing code. In the other two, it made changes to two designated redevelopment zones, creating greater opportunity for market-rate housing developments that would include a 20% set-aside of affordable units.
All three ordinances are scheduled for public hearings at the June 22 meeting of the governing body.
In remarks on the ordinances, Mayor Timothy Donohue said the municipality resisted a generic, state-imposed affordable housing plan, seeking to meet its obligations in a way that preserves the character of the municipality. After long negotiations, the settlement reached with FSHC accomplishes that goal.
Donohue also took the opportunity to point to affordable housing efforts the municipality implemented, referencing two Conifer affordable housing complexes in Rio Grande and Court House.
“We never denied that we had a responsibility to provide affordable housing,” Donohue said.
“In fact, we are one of the few towns in Cape May County that has built affordable housing,” he added.
James Maley, who serves as special counsel to the municipality on issues related to redevelopment and affordable housing, explained that one impact of the amendments to the redevelopment plans is to increase density in the two designated areas.
By increasing the density, he said, the municipality increases the chance that a developer can build the needed housing units, offsetting any financial loss associated with the construction of affordable units by providing an opportunity for increased market-rate units.
In response to a question, Maley emphasized that the construction of affordable housing units will not differ in any way from the market-rate units except in price or rent scale.
From the perspective of the developer, the units contribute less to the construction costs and that is where alterations to the redevelopment plans may make a difference in attracting someone ready to invest in a complex of housing units.
The two redevelopment areas, one in Rio Grande and one along Indian Trail Road, would have to set aside one in every five units, 20%, for affordable housing. Those units would follow a state formula for determining how many would be very-low-income, low-income or moderate-income units. The goal is a balance of opportunity for families at different income levels.
Business Administrator Kimberly Osmundsen explained that the settlement requires the municipality to create a realistic opportunity for the development of affordable housing. It does not require that the municipality create such housing.
The goal of the amendments is to increase the financial attractiveness of creating new housing for the municipality that includes the needed affordable housing units.
Maley pointed to the redevelopment zones as areas in which the municipality has more flexibility to negotiate with a prospective developer, even by offering incentives for development.
Maley added that the ordinances introduced at this meeting would be followed by an additional zoning amendment planned for introduction at a future meeting.
These efforts to implement the terms of the settlement agreement are prefatory to a fairness hearing, where the court will rule on the settlement agreement.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
