Affordable housing plan gains approval
BY TOYNETT HALL Staff Writer

HOWELL — The Township Council has endorsed an affordable housing plan and submitted it to the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH).

The council approved the plan at its meeting on Dec. 16.

According to COAH, Howell officials were required to plan for the construction of 847 housing units between 2004 and 2018. Affordable housing is defined as housing that is sold or rented at below market rates to people whose income meets regional guidelines established by COAH.

The township's planner, Jennifer Beahm, said because of certain actions the township has taken, its obligation has been reduced to 615 units of affordable housing.

The actual number of affordable units built in Howell between 2004 and 2018 will be determined by the number of market rate homes developed in the municipality as well as commercial development that occurs during that time, according to a spokesman for the state Department of Community Affairs, which oversees COAH.

The sites for affordable housing that have been identified for development include a location on Southard Road which is said to yield 168 rental units; a location on Wyckoff Road said to yield 60 affordable units; and a location off Route 9 said to yield 42 affordable rental units.

Affordable housing units would be added under programs such as the market rate to affordable housing program, said to yield 133 units, and rental bonuses, to yield 212 units, according to information provided by the township.

These proposed affordable housing sites, especially the one in the Wyckoff Road area, concerned some residents.

Steven Wolf, a resident of Howell's Adelphia Greens development that is just east of Route 9 on Route 524, asked how much say the residents of the community had in regard to the issue of affordable housing.

Another resident presented the council with a petition signed by 100 residents who are against COAH.

The resident who presented the petition said she had nothing against affordable housing, but wanted the designated locations to be what she called "sustainable."

Officials told the residents who questioned the selection of the affordable housing sites that the strategy used to select the proposed affordable housing sites was objective and nonbiased.