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+1
Additionally, let us not forget the old saying claiming that the surest way to accumulate illicit income is to become a member of a local Zoning Board or Planning Board. The tales of under-the-table money being passed to those people are legendary.
Exactly.
Think about it....why do all of these folks scratch and claw to get on these volunteer councils and committees? They must really be dying to do community service? LOL
Can the towns develop the zoned commercial property as affordable housing or is that an option only for developers? That's what I don't understand - why aren't the towns more proactive?
This is a very good question.
The premise of the anti-affordable-housing folks is that the affordable-housing mandates FORCE towns to approve these condo developments. Therefore the affordable-housing mandates are BAD.
But as you said, why don't the town councils take it on themselves to encourage the development of the affordable housing units ONLY and skip all of the market-value units?
My theory....Because there is a lot of money to made under the table rubber-stamping condo/apartment developments. Then they sell it back to their constituents as "We had to do it because of these horrible affordable housing mandates that the state of NJ pushes on us"
Think about it....why do all of these folks scratch and claw to get on these volunteer councils and committees? They must really be dying to do community service? LOL
This kind of thing is very rife in Ocean City. Developers have joined the Historical Preservation group, rendering it a joke. I once took an out of state guest to the area where the sign "Historical" district sign was, and the street was an abominable combination of great old brick homes with wrap-around porches, and brand new cookie-cutter homes. It was actually embarrassing.
Ocean City has a height restriction of somewhere around 75 feet, enacted after a high-rise condo went up decades ago, because they didn't want to be a high-rise city. Several years ago, developers bought a large parking lot in front of the Flanders Hotel, a very popular tourist area. Any wedding in OC happens at the Flanders. Nothing was heard about it for awhile, but then it came out that they had been approved to build a 150 foot hotel on the lot! All back room deals, none of them public, and they got around the height restriction by calling the area a Re-Development zone. An area with million dollar homes and a hotel that costs $300-$500 a night in summer is a redevelopment zone!
It only got scrapped because they underestimated how hard people would fight it. One couple who had only recently moved to OC, used their own money to hire a lawyer to draw up an official petition, which garnered thousands of signatures. The Flanders owners (the units are individually owned condos but it's run as a hotel) hired their own lawyer, as many of the parking spots in the lot were deeded to them. City council meetings were packed, and there were so many people who wanted to make public comments they lasted until 10, and a couple times people had to still wait for another day. They had no choice but to make the process public and have city council vote on it.
In the end, one city councilman who originally was for it, voted against it, because he was planning to run for mayor and so many constituents called him about it. And David lived another day, lol.
But in OC in general, developers and real estate people run everything. Zoning codes mean nothing. You have streets with small cottages with one ginormous 3-story condo in the center. It looks stupid, and unplanned. But they don't care, because each floor of that condo will sell for half a million.
The premise of the anti-affordable-housing folks is that the affordable-housing mandates FORCE towns to approve these condo developments. Therefore the affordable-housing mandates are BAD.
But as you said, why don't the town councils take it on themselves to encourage the development of the affordable housing units ONLY and skip all of the market-value units?
My theory....Because there is a lot of money to made under the table rubber-stamping condo/apartment developments. Then they sell it back to their constituents as "We had to do it because of these horrible affordable housing mandates that the state of NJ pushes on us"
And people fall for it.
No. The problem is towns deny the plans for a reason, and when they are forced, it leads to overdevelopment and no one is around or cares to help the municipalities fix the problem of accompanying overcrowded schools, roads, etc. Not to mention, the developers often tout these buildings as being in a train town with access to NYC, yet NJT is also a total mess with and running on failing/old infrastructure. It's really not that difficult to comprehend this problem. I see it firsthand in my town yet I also see people on this site telling me I'm wrong in various ways. The AH scheme is stupid and should be changed. If towns refuse to change zoning or planning boards deny developments due to whatever concerns they have, and the town still needs more AH units to fill the quota, the developer will just sue in court and probably win. It's happened here. The way the quota system works is stupid, it leads to developers being able to force towns to build when they don't really have the room or infrastructure. The end of that sentence is the important part, it isn't about the "forcing." Like someone else said, much of this area is already built up. Could they knock down every tree and small wooded space and build more? Sure. They are doing that in many areas. But is it a good idea? Is it just overkill? Will it lead to more traffic and crowding and possibly environmental impacts like increased/worse flooding? Yup. And it also seems to lead to a never-ending need for more AH units because developers don't build more than 15% AH units per development, and AH quotas are based on population.
I think towns should work to try to make some existing units AH units. Or there should be more AH units designated per new building. It's stupid that anytime we apparently need to meet our AH quota, developers come through with plans for new buildings we don't actually have room for.
The NJ Supreme Court has invited the legislature to find a solution for this problem, as it's the legislator's job. Bramnick has been campaigning for the same and recently held a rally in Cranford about overdevelopment concerns in this context, because many towns are experiencing the same thing.
Part of the problem may be a nimby mentality. Homeless shelters, residential treatment centers, pregnant teen housing, housing for disabled or poor seniors all count for ah and are desperately needed. But nobody wants to live near a facility or even want it in their town so they are open to builders remedy. It’s easy to fight a nonprofit with this kind of request, not so easy to fight a developer with deep pockets.
If you look at some of the most affluent NJ towns, they're not worried about mega developments because their town have strong legal representation in city, municipal, and state government to deny, delay, or void any affordable housing applications. The towns are often well funded and many of them have big lawyers as citizens they can fight any developer.
That's why I believe if these developers make inroad success at various NJ towns, eventually it would lead to homeowners leaving certain areas which will crash those markets and allowing developers to buy more land on the cheap and flip more residential towns into condo cities like Newark and Jersey City.
If you look at some of the most affluent NJ towns, they're not worried about mega developments because their town have strong legal representation in city, municipal, and state government to deny, delay, or void any affordable housing applications. The towns are often well funded and many of them have big lawyers as citizens they can fight any developer.
That's why I believe if these developers make inroad success at various NJ towns, eventually it would lead to homeowners leaving certain areas which will crash those markets and allowing developers to buy more land on the cheap and flip more residential towns into condo cities like Newark and Jersey City.
It doesn’t seem that difficult to delay AH obligations, we have done it, but it catches up to towns eventually. Fighting them entirely so the towns win and developers lose isn’t as easy.
That's why I believe if these developers make inroad success
That's still a big if.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vision33r
at various NJ towns, eventually it would lead to homeowners leaving certain areas
Moving is a big deal. If it were me, it would take quite a bit more than that to affect my decision making.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vision33r
which will crash those markets and allowing developers to buy more land on the cheap and flip more residential towns into condo cities like Newark and Jersey City.
The well-off (which you need those type $ to purchase in a "just good" and or affluent neighborhood in NJ) won't want to live with people who are "beneath them" anyway.
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