Taxes, religion at core of Howell apartment controversy

HOWELL - More than 150 residents packed town hall Monday night at a contentious township Council meeting where, after four hours, the council members voted to allow a 72-unit affordable housing project to move forward.

The council voted 5-0 to rezone 27 acres as affordable housing and 5-0 to approve an agreement that would allow the developer, Barnegat-based Walters Group, to pay 8 percent of its annual rental income in lieu of property taxes.

The $22.5 million complex would include nine buildings, a maintenance garage, a main office and outdoor recreational space at the southeast corner of Fort Plains and West Farms roads.

The project would fulfill about 17 percent of required affordable housing in Howell.

Residents presented a petition with more than 1,100 signatures asking the council not to move forward. A number of residents said they worried that the complex would become "Lakewood north," noting that the neighboring township of Lakewood has a large population of those who practice Orthodox Judaism.

Property owners who live within a 500-foot radius also presented a separate petition against the project.

Most people who spoke during the public hearing were concerned about the property tax exemption, especially because the money does not go to the county, schools or fire districts. Additional students without property tax dollars to offset the cost could drive up already high taxes, they said.

More than a dozen people wore shirts that said: “I’m nobody.”

Residents say Deputy Mayor Robert Nicastro told someone “I’m a politician, you are nobody” at a packed meeting residents had assembled to start a petition against an affordable housing complex being proposed in town.

And then someone printed shirts.

Howell resident Jill Petterson, who lives off West Farms Road near where the development is being proposed, was outside Town Hall before the council meeting handing out the shirts and asking residents to sign the petition outside. She said she was standing near Nicastro at the Howell Public Library Wednesday when he made the comment to her neighbor.

"We just want a fair chance to find out who would be moving in," Petterson said. "That's everybody's gripe. It's in our backyard. I work hard for my property and pay a lot of money to live (in Howell)."

Nicastro said he didn’t say those words, and what he did say was misinterpreted. He said he told a resident that when people are making demands of public officials, he doesn't “have the luxury” of making decisions people want if those decisions would break the law.

The law he referred to requires the town provide a certain amount of affordable housing. The controversial 72-unit apartment complex that's become a major concern for residents is part of a plan the town recently submitted for review by a judge that will prevent the town from being subject to lawsuits by builders.

Howell Mayor William Gotto said there are four developments that are exempt from property taxes because of Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) agreements. The township receives about $412,000 annually from those developments, which is about 42 percent of what they'd get if paying the full amount of property taxes, he said.

Other residents were concerned about the prospect of low-income housing in general, the congestion that the development could cause on Route 9 and the religious affiliation of the landowner, Rabbi Israel Meyer Hacohen, who on the property record is listed as associated with the Rabbinical Seminary of America.

Several residents during the public hearing asked about whether houses of worship or private schools could be built on the land in question or surrounding parcels. Another asked if the developer had ever built in Lakewood, and the answer was no.

One resident said he wanted to address the “elephant” in the room and make sure that the development would be open to all people – not just a particular group.

“We have a lot of concerns about this becoming Lakewood north,” said Howell resident Richard Williams.

“It’s a slum area (in Lakewood), and we don’t want that in our town,” he said. “For a lot of people, this has been on their minds.”

On Friday, Walters Group attorney Joe Del Duca said the company would have bought the property outright, but deed restrictions prevented its sale. The company has signed a 55-year lease with Hacohen, after which the property will belong to the Walters Group, he said.

Because the project is being funded with federal Low-Income Tax Credits and Sandy relief money through the Restoration of Multi-Family Housing Program, the project will be thoroughly regulated by the state, Del Duca said.

Tenants who live in the apartments:

Have to be 18 years old and a U.S. citizen.

Will have criminal, credit and background checks conducted by the Walters Group, a third-party organization and the state.

Have to have family income of 50 to 80 percent of the median in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

Howell residents whose homes were damaged during the storm will have the opportunity to apply for the housing 90 days before the general public, but that’s the only preferential treatment any group will get, Gotto said.

“There is no mechanism that will allow an exclusionary acceptance, if you will, where a particular group or person will have preference over anything else,” he said. “It’s not run or maintained by us, the developer or the current property owner.”

Public hearings on subdividing the land and on the merits of the project itself will be held at the Oct. 29 Planning Board meeting.

Kala Kachmar: kkachmar@gannettnj.com; 732-643-4061