Massive Developments are being proposed in many NJ municipalities,
and they are using the Affordable Housing Mandates to bypass local boards and local zoning ordinances.
Middletown Township is being sued by a developer over a 478 apartment project.
It is very near Parkway exit 114.
This is a screenshot of a comment by Governor Murphy,
responded to by Middletown Mayor Tony Perry,
Governor Murphy and his family live on Blossom Cove Rd.
That proposed development is on the border of Holmdel.
Here is an open letter from Holmdel Mayor Rocco Impreveduto,
Meanwhile, at the Blossom Cove Mansion this weekend,
Biden is scheduled to be there for a fundraising event.
The picture of Murphy and Biden, resurrected for the Globe article, is from 2017.
It wasn’t just Belmar not doing anything- everyone was at a stand still for the past 15 to 20 years. If you look back to 2015 COAH (NJ State Ran) was doing nothing to provide the towns with affordable housing plans, calculations and other things they were required to do. That is what you will read as GAP period. Thats why nothing was done by all the prior administrations in most municipalities.
Then Gov. Murphy failed to appoint members to COAH- so municipalities filed litigation to force the Governor to appointment members. That did not hold up as per Courts decision January 2024. And as of Jan 2024 COAH is now not existing. So the COAH Board that was set up to offer a cost effective way for the municipalities to get their affordable housing plans approved without costly litigation costs is gone and when Gov. Murphy signed his legislation on March 20, 2024- the DCA will be providing the calculations required by the towns and then they will go thru the Fair Share Housing Authority.
It was a wait game for most of NJ on Affordable Housing and COAH to see what was going to change and how to navigate the affordable housing where it did not cost the municipalities and their taxpayers alot of money and funds to do this.
So again Mayor B is not being completely up front- and he is blaming only the last admin/mayor for not acting- Belmar has not acted on affordable housing as most other places for 15 to 20 years, so if he wants to play the blame game keep on going back. Also, if the State of New Jersey was not organized enough and/or doing their end of this process why was/should it be the Borough’s tax dollars to do it for them??????????
And why did we have to in 2023, file litigation that led to the developers intervening and then having all the development negotiations behind closed doors and hidden from the residents. Litigation was not the only thing they could have done. Before filing litigation they could have retained the professional necessary to amend the affordable housing ordinance (THAT WAS PUT INTO PLACE IN 2019- SO Mayor B wrong again the prior admin wasn’t ignoring Affordable housing). and came up with the number that Belmar needed to meet. Then start discussions with the developers of these projects and put them before the Planning Boards, Technical Review Boards & Zoning Boards- and require affordable housing units in the projects. That would have saved a lot of litigation expenses for the taxpayers and would have been the transparent way to go about same. There were other options and again acquiring information and knowing answers before you start a litigation would have been the smarter way to go. Think first then act. Mayor B is an attorney so he should know this or at least know to research and fact find NOT just rely upon what others do in other towns.
I get that this makes a lot of people angry. What I don’t get is why it makes a lot of republicans angry. We’re talking about unfettered development here. Something that is a cornerstone of GOP ideology. The developers, mostly white, all of them wealthy, are able to make piles of money while bypassing local government regulations. It’s like a conservative’s dream come true. The post then connects Murphy to Biden. Ignoring the obvious fact that Biden’s opponent has made a fortune building government subsidized housing. Well, his dad made a fortune and passed it on to him and he continued to make a fortune from, yup, affordable housing.
So, yes, we can all be mad and blame Murphy or Buccafusco. We can ignore the fact that there is a housing crisis in this country and in this town. We can pretend that most of affordable housing proposed in Belmar wouldn’t benefit police officers, nurses, teachers, and working families.
Me, I’m against unfettered development. I’m all for local government regulations on building. I am for applying affordable housing numbers to proposed projects. And I’m against allowing developers to take advantage of PILOT programs. We live in a town where patches of dirt go for three quarters of a million dollars, attracting developers with tax incentives is not necessary (I’m talking to you, Doherty)
This issue is not a partisan one. Not in Belmar anyway. Both republican and Democrat administrations are responsible for the situation we find ourselves in. The bottom line is people need places to live. If we are ok with handing out school vouchers to get kids out of failing schools, then we should be ok with handing out vouchers to help families out of failing neighborhoods.
Murphy is making it impossible for the working class to stay in NJ. My taxes increased although nothing changed in my property. I am 72 years old and trying to stay in my home. They are destroying the reason I moved here in the first place.
There is some good news for you. First, your property taxes go up largely due to your local government. In Belmar’s case it was Walsifer (mine went up about 22%) and Buccafusco (another 5-6%). And in 2019 the Trump admin capped the amount of property tax NJ residents could deduct on their federal taxes. That didn’t raise property taxes, but it did raise my overall tax burden.
So Murphy isn’t really your problem. Another issue is the fact that the property tax formula is tied to home values (I personally think that is a flawed system), and Belmar home values are through the roof. However, since you are a senior, you qualify for one or both of two bills recently passed by the State Legislature, conceived of by the Murphy administration. One is ‘Stay NJ’ and the other is ‘Senior Freeze’. Both bills are designed for folks like you, so you can get significant rebates on your property tax bill. NJ property taxes have ALWAYS been high, so I’m not sure what you mean by “destroying the reason you moved here in the first place”. I don’t think anyone has ever moved to NJ for the property taxes. But, nevertheless, you now have two separate relief programs to help keep you in your home. Both are detailed on the state gov website.
” flawed system”
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Bingo – “Democracy” is dead and beginning to stink.
I was referring to the property tax system of being tied to property values. Property value goes up, tax burden goes up. Property value goes down, taxes go up. Flawed.
Democracy itself? Under major assault right now but will hopefully survive. It’ survived the spoiled sore losers of Jan 6th, so there is hope. I’m not crazy about a couple of Supreme Court justices who proudly display their compromised impartiality. But if we avoid electing that autocratic *********, there will be hope.
I know I know, don’t vote. I may finally take you up in that. Never have we faced two more horrible candidates. One just slightly less horrific than the other.
(Asterisks are mine, Editor.)
Keep voting Democratic and the end will come sooner.
There he is. Once again, your “news” source is keeping things from you.
Of the country’s top ten states with strongest economies, five are republican controlled, and five are democrat controlled. The US economy is very strong by almost all economic measures. Jobless rate is down at pre-pandemic.numbers. The GDP grew in the last quarter of 2023 by 3.4%. Again, better than pre-pandemic levels. Look around you, I don’t think there is a street in this town that doesn’t have some kind of new build or renovation happening.
So, if it’s not the economy, what exactly are you going on about? Inflation? That peaked in 2022 and has been decreasing since. Every economist, whether left or right leaning, agrees that the current inflation was a direct result of a global shut down and manufacturing grinding to a halt. The economy is strong so consumers are still buying like crazy keeping the prices high. The fed has increased interest rates to slow the economy in order to help lower prices. It is working now just as it did in the ‘80s when Reagan did the same exact thing to deal with crazy inflation.
So, if not the economy and not inflation, then what? What will cause “the end”.
While you scratch you head and try to think of a reason why you’re always complaining…have a Happy 4th Of July.