Town, not developer, must control housing

The members of the Manal-apan Township Committee should not allow themselves to be forced into making a decision that could have serious ramifications for the community.

Manalapan officials must act promptly and seriously on the municipality's affordable housing business now so that the township is not left defenseless and vulnerable to overwhelming residential development at a later date.

The attorney who represents the developer of The Village at Manalapan recently came before the committee to ask municipal officials to consider allowing housing to be built in conjunction with the development of The Village at Manalapan retail-commercial project on a 135-acre parcel at Route 33 and Millhurst Road.

It cannot be any clearer than this: Manalapan does not need hundreds of homes at a location that is certain to become a traffic hot spot once The Village is built. The developer's request to build as many as 500 units of housing is unworkable.

Manalapan's elected officials must reject the implied threat that has been made by the developer that unless housing is permitted at The Village site, the township will be sued under state Council on Affordable Housing guidelines.

Manalapan's elected officials must reject the builder's offer to donate land in return for a zoning change that will permit the construction of housing at The Village site. The donation of land could never make up for the costs associated with the construction of hundreds of homes (i.e., schools, police, municipal services). The developer would laugh all the way to the bank if officials took a deal like that.

In a letter to the township, the developer's attorney makes some compelling arguments as to why housing should be permitted at The Village site.

He states that "the inclusion of residential housing on The Village site achieves the purpose and goals of Smart Growth principles articulated by the state, such as mixed land uses and range of housing choices and opportunity.

"Further, a residential component for The Village is consistent with the township master plan and housing policy. The master plan specifically states within the housing policy [that] Manal-apan encourages the development of a variety of housing types suitable to the needs of existing and future residents.

"Housing development shall be compatible with existing residential neighborhoods, with environmental constraints, with the availability of infrastructure and with the need to maintain adequate levels of service for public utilities.

"In addition, there are other planning concepts that support residential housing, both market rate and affordable, as part of The Village project: Residential (units) over commercial (space) is a unique housing option not readily available in Manalapan or Monmouth County."

We would like to see the developer construct an apartment building for people of all ages and rent the apartments for about $700 a month. Manalapan has no apartment buildings, so the building would add variety to the housing stock. And apartments going for $700 a month would really serve the needs of existing and future residents. Guess what? That proposal will never happen here because it is not a money-maker.

While Manalapan officials do have to deal with a state-mandated obligation to provide affordable housing, they must do so in a way that makes sense for the community.

Permitting the construction of 400 market-rate homes to allow the creation of 100 affordable units - which is one of the proposals put forth by the developer - is not the way to go.

We are not completely opposed to the idea of residential units being built over stores in a part of The Village complex, which is another idea the developer has put forth.

If the developer wants to build lofts or apartments and can sell them for hundreds of thousands of dollars to people who want to live above a clothing store or an ice cream parlor, perhaps he should be permitted to do so.

However, creating a mini-city of hundreds of townhomes on Millhurst Road has the potential to add more of a burden to schools and roads that Manal-apan is already straining under, and the idea should be rejected by elected officials and residents.