State may lift age-restrictions on some housing
Monday, March 16, 2009
BY RYAN TRACY
Special to the Times
As developers across the state hesitate to break ground on projects that looked more profitable in better economic times, experts say housing reserved for residents "55 and older" is in all-too abundant supply in New Jersey.
The glut has led state lawmakers to consider a bill that could allow developers to remove age limits on already-approved housing without starting the municipal approval process anew.
If the state tosses builders a lifeline and allows them to market the homes to a wider market, supporters of the proposed law say, 55-and-over projects that currently stand dormant could become active construction sites, creating much-needed jobs.
Yet in advance of a vote on the measure in the state Assembly today, some local officials are crying foul.
They say such age-restricted developments were often approved because of their relatively low impact on local schools and other taxpayer-funded government services. Remove the restrictions, they argue, and property owners will foot the bill.
In Hamilton, Mayor John Bencivengo drafted a letter last week pleading with state lawmakers to vote against the plan.
He said age restrictions on two Hamilton developments with a combined 431 housing units could be removed under the proposed law.
"This is absolutely ridiculous. We don't have any more room in these schools," Bencivengo said in an interview last week. "What's the sense of having the planning board in the local town if this is what the state can do? The reason we approved this in the first place is be cause it was senior housing."
Under the proposal, developers who already have approval for a 55-and-over community would have a two-year window during which they can apply to the local planning or zoning board for removal of the age restrictions.
To be eligible, "a developer must agree to set aside a percentage of the units in the development, not to exceed 20 percent, for the provision of affordable housing," according to a summary of the bill. Developments would only be eligible if the owner has not se cured a single deposit on any of the homes.
Assemblyman Joseph Malone, R-Bordentown, one of the bill's sponsors, said the legislation wouldn't allow for major changes to the housing projects, but rather allow the developers to market homes to "middle-income" residents.
"There's no demand for senior housing. Nothing is being built," Malone said. "The most important economic engine in the state of New Jersey is the housing industry. If we can give them a small incentive to start going back to work, you'll see a massive difference in the economy of the state."
According to Jeffrey Otteau of Otteau Valuation in East Brunswick, age-restricted "homes that are being built now or that have approvals but have not yet been built account for somewhere between 15 and 18 years of supply in the market."
"Right now, these projects are not even financeable (with) the age restrictions in place," Otteau said.
Stephen Shaw, past president of the New Jersey Builder's Association and owner of Shaw Built Homes, said the "the project is going to look the same from the street ... it's just you're able to market it to a much broader segment of buyers."
He said towns could expect residents with "one or no kids," leaving a minimal impact on schools.
Otteau agreed, saying that "households with children do not want to live in small, two-bedroom homes" like the ones found in the 55-and-over communities.
But Bencivengo said Hamilton "can't afford one more kid."
"I'm sorry that the market changed, but we can't pay the bill for people that are in the development business," Bencivengo said.
Enchantment Villas, a 123-unit project on Kuser Road and the 308-unit Brandywine project on Klockner Road are the two age-restricted communities currently approved but not yet built in Hamilton, according to the township.
Malone said the township's planning board would have the option of rejecting a developer's request to convert the age-restricted units.
Bencivengo said he feared that if Hamilton did so, it could face a battle in the courts.
Contact Ryan Tracy at (609) 989 -- 5723 or rtracy@njtimes.com.
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1 comment:
Several fronts here- Consideration of rezoning for ANYTHING with age restricted language would be a farce. Second - with the "glut" for the next 15-18 yrs, we don't need it. Third-the claim that not many kids would come to the district in 1 and 2 BR houses- you are aware that Sunbury started out military housing, and there are MANY 1 and 2 BR houses in Pemberton with more than 2 kids.
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