Housing settlement approved in Marlboro

BY TALI ISRAELI
Staff Writer

Following an executive session meeting on Sept. 26, the Marlboro Township Council passed a resolution to approve 250 homes on Route 79.

The resolution authorizes a settlement agreement between the municipality and developers Alfred Bluh and Joseph Batelli to construct 200 market-rate ,age-restricted units and 50 affordable family rental units on a 75-acre parcel on Route 79 just south of Church Lane.

The developers have agreed to fund 65 Regional Contribution Agreement (RCA) units at an amount to be determined and approved by the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH). The RCA units will be transferred out of Marlboro to a community that will use the money paid to Marlboro by Bluh and Batelli to build affordable housing or to rehabilitate substandard housing.

Bluh and Batelli were two objectors to Marlboro’s 2004 af-fordable housing plan. According to the council resolution, Bluh and Batelli were slated to construct 210 market-rate units and 68 affordable-housing units. However, in 1998 the township removed Bluh and Batelli from its affordable-housing plan.

As a result of their objection, the town and the developers engaged in mediation and negotiations and agreed to construct 250 units, 50 of which will be affordable units. Affordable housing as defined by the state is housing that is sold or rented below market rates to people who have an income that meets regional guidelines established by COAH.

The Bluh and Batelli plan is one component of Marlboro’s attempt to meet its affordable-housing obligation