Middletown reached a settlement with Bamm Hollow Country Club last week, effectively ending years of litigation. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
Nearly 200 homes may be built on the property of Bamm Hollow Country Club as a result of an affordable housing lawsuit settlement between the town and the country club.
Officials say the deal was the best option for the town. Neighbors say it will crush the area’s quality of life.
The settlement, under which the owners of Bamm Hollow will be allowed to build up to 190 single-family homes and must set aside 120 acres of open space on the approximate 280-acre property, effectively ends a two-year lawsuit that bled hundreds of thousands of dollars from township coffers. The resolution outlining the terms of the settlement must be approved by the planning board to end the litigation.
While residents of the Lincroft section of town are strongly opposed to getting upwards of 200 new neighbors, 1,200 units were initially proposed and this settlement represents the best option for the town, officials said.
“I make this vote not because I want to,” Mayor Tony Fiore said. “I make this vote because I have to.”
In 2009, attorneys for Bamm Hollow filed a suit against the town for not including the property, a 280-acre golf course and country club, in its affordable housing plan, and proposed building 1,204 units on the property. The township fought the suit, which was subject to a court-imposed gag order, contending that it did meet the state’s affordable housing requirements, and spent “hundreds of thousands” before striking a settlement late last week, Attorney Brian Nelson said.
Some residents said the township didn’t fight hard enough and was hit hard by the “sledgehammer” that is the state Council on Affordable Housing, which they said jams affordable housing down municipalities’ throats.
“I think Middletown is setting a real poor example if we fall prey to that,” said Diane Sweeney, of Lincroft. “Something has got to be done. I am hoping for courage from the township committee to stand up and maybe say, we’ve had enough.”
But Fiore warned of the potential fallout of denying the terms of the settlement and seeing the case through. Nelson said the courts tend to rule in favor of developers, and if a ruling went against Middletown, 1,200 units — possibly more, Administrator Tony Mercantante said — would be inevitable.
“Showing that level of fortitude can come at a cost that we would never be able to survive,” Fiore said.
Meanwhile, Fiore pointed out that the town is fighting the council in state Supreme Court challenging its affordable housing requirements.
“We’re not done fighting COAH,” said Committeeman Gerry Scharfenberger. “We’re not going to let up now. It’s just for the time being, our hands are tied.”
Nelson said Bamm Hollow’s conceptual plans for the 190 units will be made available on the township’s website sometime this week, as well as in the planning office. Worries from residents about buffers have been addressed, he said.
The settlement with Bamm Hollow is one of two prongs jabbed into the Lincroft neighborhood recently.
Residents continue to raise issues against another affordable housing plan, a 342-unit proposal at the former technology giant Avaya property on Middletown-Lincroft Road, not far from Bamm Hollow. That plan is currently being heard by the planning board, and is expected to take months getting through red tape.
Resident Allen Vrabel, in summarizing the two developments, told the township committee, “this sounds like you’ve got a gun to your head.”
“This whole process we’ve had a gun to our head,” Fiore said.
Download and read the full resolution here.
Are the Lincroft residents ever happy?
As an ex Lincroft and Middletown resident and tax payer of over 20 years I would be furious over this deal. What a crock of crap Now we have to mandate affordable housing ? Where next Locust Rumson Little Silver?? I couldn’t afford it any more so I moved once my kids finished school. yes thats right downsized to accommodate my standard of living as to what i could afford its that simple hey wait maybe i can move back there now? Besides id like to see the studies that say that areas can absorb another 200 families with the currant infrastructure of roads schools water etc What were they thinking 1200 units ???? What ??? What??? It s one of the few quiet areas left over there good grief
” The Council on Affordable Housing” Is this a joke ? Inmy world its called the bank you can either afford it or you cant and good luck getting a loan today. Are these the same idiots who came of with no money down loans on houses for anyone and Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac? That caused the housing bubble to literally implode taking the countries entire economy down the tube with it ? And there going to add another 340 Units? Meanwhile the avg. real estate tax in the neck of the woods is well over 10 000 a year. But who cares …Revolt tax payers of Lincroft and Middletown ! unreal you cant make this crap up
The fact of the matter is that, while COAH is in dire need of reform, it isn’t going anywhere, nor should it. Affordable housing isn’t the end-of-the-world that it has been made out to be. People need homes, roofs over their heads for both themselves and their families.
Monmouth County is full of these upscale, million+ dollar housing developments, but the outcry over them is much, much less then affordable housing developments. It’s a sad state of affairs that some people are okay, or at least silent, over more homes being built for the wealthy, but they become vocal and up-in-arms over homes being built for working-class families. If were were to implement county-wide rent control, which is exactly what I would like to see done, then I think that affordable housing would be looked at in a much different light.
When it comes to constructing 190 homes on Bamm Hollow’s property and over half of the land designated to remain open space, that is a fair compromise from what was originally proposed. I would like to see the conceptual plan before having a full opinion though on whether that number is too low or too high. My only concern, and I’m sure this will be addressed, is that the new development can be handled in terms of water, sewage, etc.
http://www.VoteNoble.com
The Bamm Hollow project has been in the works for years. Avaya is relatively new. It is amazing to me that not one news organization has done an expose on who are the actual principals involved in each project naming all involved. While it is easy to blame this all on COAH it is also, incredibly convenient & ill informed. Take a closer look please. There are developers out there that have worked with the state & municipalities & done an excellent job of keeping building to a manageable level, incorporating affordable housing & benefitting existing residents in the process by making contributions to improvements in road & community infrastructure including open space for everyone.
Rent control on the county level? Great Pat- so a rental in Keansburg in a home valued at 112,000(median value)would go for the same cost as a rental in Fair Haven in a home valued at $528,000(median home value)? And who pays the difference in tax burden to the leassor in Fair Haven? The difference in value?
NIMBY-ism at it’s best here in Monmouth County.
And rent control doesn’t mean the same price everywhere. Rent control sets price ceilings, and each price need not be identical.
Pat:
Well put.
But I do have a question.
If you put caps on rents will that increase or decrease the number of available rental units?
Amazing. Glad I sold my house in Middletown when I did!
Vote nobel Your comment” Monmouth County is full of these upscale, million+ dollar housing developments, but the outcry over them is much, much less then affordable housing developments. It’s a sad state of affairs that some people are okay, or at least silent, over more homes being built for the wealthy, but they become vocal and up-in-arms over homes being built for working-class families. ”
What planet are you living on ? You obviously dont know how or dont believe in the free enterprise system or how it works All those Million dollar homes that have plummeted 30-40 % in value over the last few years and have sat empty were built with private money and venture capitalists and moronic bankers BUT not with tax dollar subsidies & it has taken its toll on our economy and local business who have lost millions of dollars, cost thousands of jobs to our local economy. DEAD BANK Read up on Hovanian while your at it. And your damn right not in my back yard. We are not all equal sorry we are a diverse nation and back grounds all with the same opportunity to move ahead or fall behind based on our education, skills and motivation I drive a Kia not a BMW ( i use to ) because that is what i can afford .i busted my butt to buy my piece of the American dream and chose to live in Lincroft & Middletown after i “earned it with many years of hard work and sacrifice to buy & maintain that home. i also had to pay the taxes to have the privilege as I guess your calling it to live there. So why is someone “entitled ” to live there who cant afford it ?” When i couldn’t afford the tax bill and had 2 college tuitions to pay for i moved to house half the size in a different town. Its all back door politics and big money. I agree i would like to see who is involved in all this but it makes no differance the tax payer gets screwed in the end. This was going on back when i lived there and that was at least 10 years ago they were talking about it. Oh and I looked it up there are 7 units in little silver So i guess i was wrong. I do not claim to know how this whole process works because i am not a developer or a politician I’m just sick of this endless stream of entitlement to people in this country have come to expect at someones else’s expense. Meanwhile i spend 25-30 a day on gas to go to work and spend about 300 a week to feed a family of 3. Who is going to help me ? Oh and Im renting now so when these sweetheart deals come along with fixed rents let me know maybe ill sign up for one and move back to my old town
Ryan- I think Lauren answered that question well. A universal number isn’t possible or even logical, taking into account different home sizes, property taxes, utilities that the landlord pays for, etc. Price caps are what rent control does in practice. In the case of New York City’s rent control, they also set what the landlord must provide to the tenant.
Kevin- If by available units, you mean homes that are vacant, it makes sense that the number would go down. Rent control would make renting a more viable option for a greater number of people, which would in turn increase the number of homes being rented and decrease the number of vacancies.
Donald- I agree that these multi-million dollar housing developments for the wealthy are a drag on the area and aren’t even completely filled. My point in bringing them up is that, while some people go up-in-arms over housing developments for working class families that are made affordable, most of them fall silent on these developments for the wealthy.
What’s wrong with saying people deserve a roof over their heads? If you would rather use the word entitlement, I’ll say without hesitance that everyone should be entitled to a roof over their head. If something can be done to give a helping hand to families in need of homes they can afford, then why wouldn’t we do it?
Saying that everyone has the same opportunity to “move ahead or fall behind” just isn’t true. Despite how it is portrayed with the stories you may hear from time-to-time in the media, people don’t just move ahead because of hard work and dedication. Sometimes that happens, yes, but more times then not, class status is a permanent fixture. You can’t deny that someone with a wealthy background has a much better chance of advancement then someone who comes from a economically-strained one. The system is set up that way, to keep the wealthy as the wealthy and to keep everyone else down below. When you hear some inspiring, “rags-to-riches” success story, that is something that is few and far between.
Pat you make a valid point obviously some people have a better start in life then others from a social /economical point of view and some people need help but they get plenty of if . i should have worded that differently but i can tell you i went to RBR a extremely diverse population and we all had the same teachers, poor kids,middle class and the rich kids from Homdel Shrewsbury Little Sliver & and i can tell you great success stories and failures from all side of the socio / eco background they came from and they are not few and far in between. You make it what you want to make of it . The system you ascribe sounds like everyone should have the same. As far as everyone having a roof over there head for the most part everyone does well except for “dollar bill” in town I dont know where he sleeps at night but im sure somewhere but i always give him a dollar or 2 And ive never heard anyone “up in arms” that they couldnt afford to buy a house lets say in Cots Neck” You either could afford it or you cant . There are plenty of other places to live. I can barely afford myrent it is very high I soon will have to make a choice Where do i move to ? I am NOT entitled to live in this town I chose to. Tax payers already pay for supplemental housing & myriad of other social programs to millions of people such as section 8 housing with tax dollars . I used to own one in Vail Homes & Middletown is huge one of the largest townships in the state and it is a diverse as any in income as well and there is affordable housing in that township
My point…. why is a township forced to to create low income housing affordable housing while others in the same town are paying tens of thousands of dollars in property taxes ? A persons home generally is there largest asset ( at least among middle class) And what does affordable housing mean today ? Based on what number ? So what is affordable housing in Bamm hollow where i would guess the avg house over there is well above 600k ? And taxes are about 12 k plus a year . And as a past resident I can tell you i do not believe they have the infrastructure to support another 540 plus homes. I know the schools surely cant, the roads are maxed out and then you have the utilities. When i read the 1200 homes literally almost fell off my chair.
Pat:
Sorry, I know you’re responding to several people at once on very different comments/questions.
I understand existing rentals will continue to be available.
But will construction of new rentals increase or decrease if there’s a cap on what the builder can charge in rents?
Will the quality of new rental properties improve or deteriorate with a cap?
Donald- I think you misunderstood what I was saying about people being up-in-arms. I’m not talking about people being upset over not being able to afford houses in the multi-million dollar developments. What I’m saying is that people are awfully quiet when these wealthy developments are built, but they flip out when affordable housing is built. There’s no consistency.
What I’m saying is that, if someone can’t afford a house or apartment on their own for themselves and their families, there should be options to help them have a roof over their head. Affordable housing developments aren’t luxurious, but they allow working class people to live within their means by offering a doable rent price.
If you look at my first post, I agree that there is the concern of roads, utilities, etc. with an influx of new homes. Before any definitive opinion is made by anyone on what an acceptable number of housing units is, we need to see what can be sustained and if changes can be made to accommodate.
Kevin- It’s no problem haha, happy to respond to everyone. I can’t say for sure if construction would go up or down, and the reason for that is that it largely depends on the mindset of the property owner. Some may see it as, since they won’t be able to rake in as much money per unit, there isn’t a point in building housing/apartments on their property. On the flip side though, some may see it as, since renting would become a more viable option, more people would choose to rent a home, therefore going for quantity of apartments.
In terms of quality, that’s also up for debate. Though if the zoning boards and the government does its job properly, the apartments will be at minimum livable. Keeping in mind though that the landlord wants to rent the apartments out, the quality of them should be decent.