SAYREVILLE – The Sayreville Borough Council is appealing a New Jersey Superior Court judge’s order to adopt two ordinances that are intended to assist the borough in reaching its necessary amount of affordable units, but have been a source of concern for residents.
The council voted to appeal an order from Superior Court Judge Arnold Natali to adopt the ordinances and to authorize Larry Sachs, the borough’s special counsel for Council on Affordable Housing matters, to file a motion to vacate or amend the order at an Oct. 23 meeting. The vote was made after council members instructed Sachs to appeal the order in closed session.
Natali ordered the council to adopt an ordinance that will amend the borough’s affordable housing ordinance and an ordinance that will permit projects that have affordable units in their zone following the council’s denial of the ordinances on Sept. 25. The judge officially signed his order on Oct. 10 and the council must take action within 45 days, beginning on the day after the order was signed – Oct. 11 – according to borough officials.
The council’s rejection of the ordinances and appeal of Natali’s order have been made amid concerns from residents over the proposed affordable housing plan because, if approved, it will create additional market rate units apart from the required affordable units. Residents have spoken about the potential impacts that the additional residential units might create, such as the potential impact on the school district, traffic, taxes, open space, population density and safety.
As the result of a settlement agreement, Sayreville is required to have 785 affordable units between 2015-25. According to a letter from the Planning Board, read by Councilman and liaison Pat Lembo, 434 affordable units are planned to be built as a result of the borough receiving credit for 351 affordable units.
The ordinance permitting the affordable housing projects defines the projects as inclusionary multi-family dwellings, which are market-rate housing dwellings that have 15 percent of their units designated as affordable. The Planning Board stated that assuming 434 is the affordable obligation with the 15 percent set-aside, the total amount of market-rate and affordable units that will be built is 2,930.
If adopted, the inclusionary multi-family dwellings ordinance will permit Camelot at Sayreville I, which will have 173 units (26 affordable), and Camelot at Sayreville II, which will have 300 units (45 affordable). Both projects are being developed by Kaplan Properties, which filed as an intervener and was granted the right to intervene in Sayreville’s litigation with Superior Court over its affordable housing obligations.
Prior to its denial, the council requested that the ordinance be amended to lower its bulk standards. Borough Attorney Michael DuPont said that this amendment was removed from the version of the ordinance that the council was ordered to adopt.
In addition to the Kaplan projects, a previous version of the ordinance included Cross Avenue/National Lead Site, which will have 163 units (24 affordable), and River Road Development Site, which will have 160 units (24 affordable), as projects intended to assist the borough in meeting its obligations. These projects are not in the current version of the ordinance that the council was ordered to adopt.
National Lead has also filed as an intervener in Sayreville’s affordable housing litigation; no final order has been issued. When asked by a resident about National Lead’s current status, DuPont said there have been no updates as of the Oct. 23 meeting.
