Jane Citizen can have
a say in town’s business

Sharon Carpenter-Migliaccio of Howell has learned a valuable lesson this year. She’s discovered that as a resident of the community she is the best person to protect her interests.

While some people may believe that the government is their protector, Carpenter-Migliaccio and those who have joined her in a group known as RAID — Residents Against Irresponsible Development — have come to realize that they must take the lead if they hope to keep a project they do not want built from coming to town.

In the case of RAID, the plan to which the residents are objecting is known as The Fountains. Applicant MGD Holdings is proposing to build a 304-unit apartment complex between Route 9 and Maxim-Southard Road. The next Planning Board hearing on The Fountains application is scheduled for Dec. 12.

The proposed development is near Carpenter-Migliaccio’s home off Estelle Lane.

What makes this project different from many other housing applications that come before the Howell Planning Board is its affordable housing component.

Because the development site has been identified as a location where housing for people whose income meets regional guidelines can be built, the state Council On Affordable Housing (COAH) figures into the mix.

Carpenter-Migliaccio has spent the past year attending COAH meetings in Trenton, attending Township Council meetings, researching New Jer-sey’s affordable housing laws and asking questions of elected officials. She has provided a textbook example of how a heretofore uninvolved citizen can use access guaranteed by state law to become educated on a topic as mundane as the state’s affordable housing mandates and how they affect Howell.

Carpenter-Migliaccio has raised many interesting questions about The Fountains. Some have been answered and some remain to be addressed by the council members and the Planning Board.

She is not an elected or appointed Howell municipal official — yet. Many local officials, however, have gotten their start on issues just such as this. Whether or not she stops The Fountains from being built, Carpenter-Migliaccio has made herself a person to be watched.