SAYREVILLE – A planner hired last year by Sayreville to review its affordable housing obligations has been appointed to serve as the borough’s municipal planner for 2018.
Susan Gruel was appointed to a one-year term as the municipal planner by the council at a meeting on Jan. 22. After Mayor Kennedy O’Brien asked for a motion for Gruel to serve as planner, the motion was made and seconded, with Council President Victoria Kilpatrick and council members Daniel Buchanan, Steven Grillo, Pat Lembo, Ricci Melendez and Mary Novak then voting in favor of it.
Gruel, who had previously served as the borough’s planner years ago, will succeed John Leoncavallo, Sayreville’s municipal planner in 2017. At the borough’s reorganization meeting on Jan. 1, O’Brien requested a motion for Leoncavallo to continue to serve as municipal planner for the year; Grillo made the motion, but no other members of the council seconded it, and the motion died for a lack of a second.
Although not reappointed as municipal planner, Leoncavallo was reappointed by members of the Sayreville Planning Board at their Jan. 3 reorganization meeting to serve as the board’s planner for the year.
Prior to resuming her duties as municipal planner, Gruel was hired by the council in 2017 as a review planner for the borough’s Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) obligations, which Sayreville is currently in litigation in New Jersey Superior Court over. Members of the council wanted Gruel to provide further review of the borough’s affordable housing plan following concerns from residents and governing body members over the current plan to meet the necessary affordable housing requirements.
During the Jan. 24 Zoning Board meeting, Gruel was appointed to serve as the board’s planner for the year.
The proposed affordable housing plan has been a source of concern from residents 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 the Planning Board, 434 affordable units are planned to be built as a result of the borough receiving credit for 351 affordable units. The total amount of market-rate and affordable units that will be built is 2,930 if 434 is the affordable unit obligation as 15 percent of the units constructed are intended to be affordable.
Contact Matthew Sockol at msockol@newspapermediagroup.com.
