‘No More!’ Colts Neck Residents Weigh In On Affordable Housing

COLTS NECK, NJ — Colts Neck residents shared their concerns about traffic, open space and more at a recent planning board meeting regarding the town’s upcoming requirements for affordable housing.

The general consensus? Take it somewhere else.

The planning board hosted the Jan. 14 meeting to gather community input on where Colts Neck should build affordable housing units for the town’s upcoming fourth-round requirements.

Requirements for affordable housing in Colts Neck (and other NJ municipalities) are generated from calculations by the Department of Community Affairs, which determine how many units municipalities must provide over the next decade.

Under the Mount Laurel Doctrine, all municipalities are constitutionally mandated to provide their “fair share” of affordable housing for the region.

For the state’s fourth-round obligations, local governments have until Jan. 31 to approve their numbers or provide their own calculations consistent with state law.

In Colts Neck, the present housing need (existing housing units deemed substandard/deficient and in need of repair) is 0, and the prospective housing need (the number of new units that need to be built based on population trends) is 101 units, according to calculations from the DCA.

If the township committee approves their resolution to accept the DCA’s numbers on Wednesday, the town will have until June 30 to adopt specific plans for how they will meet this need.

During the January meeting, board members shared information with attendees about upcoming affordable housing deadlines and requirements, including a presentation by Beth McManus, an affordable housing planner from Kyle + McManus Associates hired by the township committee.

Though the planning board hosted the meeting, John Tobia, the planning board chair, said it wasn’t something the planning board typically does.

According to Tobia, the township committee is normally the one to host information meetings on affordable housing, as they’re the ones who hire professionals such as affordable housing planners (like McManus) and attorneys.

“In the interest of public input, we are conducting this informational session so that it’s transparent and we have all the input," Tobia said. "But please be advised that it’s ultimately the township committee that has the total responsibility of affordable housing in this township.”

“It’s a very emotional subject," Tobia continued. "It could change the character of this township.”

Colts Neck Residents Weigh In
During the meeting, various residents took to the floor and to stations around the room to share their concerns about affordable housing in town.

One resident, Kevin O’Brien, voiced his concerns about various topics relating to development in Colts Neck, including water and sewer service management and traffic projections by Liviana Colts Neck (formerly Colts Neck Manor), a residential community across from Colts Neck High School that’s under construction.

According to O’Brien, each housing unit at Liviana is expected to produce nearly seven trips per day (either to or from the community) on average, compounding traffic problems.

“The total buildout estimate is over 10,000 additional trips or traffic per day on Route 537 and Route 34 in Colts Neck,” O’Brien said. “Our charming community is changing.”

RoseAnn Scotti, a former Colts Neck Mayor, added that the Liviana Colts Neck developer didn’t conduct proper testing of the community's wastewater treatment plant and that the town now has an obligation to make sure Liviana, as well as any other future development, is done right.

She, alongside other residents, questioned why Colts Neck wasn’t fighting the fourth-round housing requirements, pointing out a lawsuit that Holmdel (and other municipalities) joined in efforts to pause the mandate.

“Why didn’t we fight this thing in court?” Scotti said. “...Can’t we leave it open for this township to either join the appeal that Holmdel is putting in on the Mount Laurel effort as a whole or do something else? Why would we want to do this again?”

While the planning board said they’re not against fighting, board members told attendees that they’re not going to fight a battle that will ultimately be lost.

“Everybody told us to join the legislation, but the legislation just failed,” Mayor Tara Torchia Buss said. “So if we would have spent $20,000, people would have come back and said, ‘We just wasted $20,000 of our money in a failed lawsuit,’ which we already had professionals identify as what appears to be a failed lawsuit.”

“I’m hearing that you guys want us to fight," Buss said. "We’re not fighting a battle that’s going to be lost.”

Another resident, Gina Difazio, shared her story of why she moved to Colts Neck, saying it’s “heartbreaking” that the life she imagined her children having years from now could soon be gone.

“I moved here two and a half years ago because I wanted to raise my family here,” Difazio said. “I can’t imagine this town changing. We moved to Colts Neck because it was a dream to move to Colts Neck.”

“We moved to a couple of different towns until we were lucky enough to afford a life in Colts Neck,” Difazio continued. “And now watching that life, that’s going to be pretty much destroyed with all of this affordable housing built in Colts Neck? That’s not what everybody comes to Colts Neck for.”

Difazio echoed Scotti’s question on fighting the mandate, telling planning board members that there’s “got to be something.”

“I understand you hear it from every end,” Difazio said. “If we spend $20,000 on legal fees, people complain. People always complain. They’re going to complain no matter what you do…but in Colts Neck we have the funds to raise between us.”

“If we need the extra money in town to fight the battle, I’m willing,” Difazio continued. “Please, don’t give up on us…What can we do to help you guys help us?”

Related

• Share Ideas On Affordable Housing In Colts Neck At Upcoming Meeting
• New Affordable Housing Mandate Released By NJ: See Your Town's Share
• Holmdel Township Joins Lawsuit Against Affordable Housing Mandate

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to correct quote attribution.