Photo by Allison Perrine
RUMSON – There were too many people to count at the borough’s public presentation on future housing plans Tuesday night, Jan. 14. But they made themselves heard.
A sea of upset residents filled the Forrestdale Middle School gymnasium after moving from the cafeteria due to limited space. Tension hung in the air for the entire four-and-a-half-hour-long meeting as borough planner Kendra Lelie presented two housing plans in Rumson, one for affordable housing and another for luxury apartments.
But the issue for residents was less about affordable housing than it was about the way the deals were done.
Two settlement agreements were on the table that night. One deal was with the nonprofit Fair Share Housing Center (FSHC), which advocates for affordable housing. The other was with Yellow Brook Property Co. LLC, owned by local developer Roger Mumford, which residents strongly opposed.
The borough’s total affordable housing obligation is 603 units, which, broken down is comprised of 29 rehabilitation units, 268 units from the prior Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) round and 335 for the most recent COAH round lasting through 2025. However, the borough and FSHC settled on a realistic development potential (RDP) of 51 units. The remaining units, an unmet need of 552, will be addressed with overlay zoning and additional ordinances. Overlay zoning allows a property owner to keep the property as it has always been or also one day develop multifamily housing with affordable set-asides.
The borough plans to meet its 51-unit obligation with five existing affordable housing units; by turning existing market-rate units into affordable units, with two existing and nine proposed; using 13 rental bonus credits; and bringing in 16 new rental and eight special needs bedrooms in the form of 100 percent affordable, special needs municipally and developer-sponsored projects.
The second settlement agreement with Yellow Brook came from a motion filed in 2017 giving the developer intervenor status. It proposed three sites for development. As part of the settlement, Yellow Brook will construct up to 18 luxury market-rate units at 132 Bingham Ave. and up to 16 luxury market-rate units on 91 Rumson Road, the borough said. None will be affordable units.
Instead, Yellow Brook will donate another property it owns on Carton Street to the borough and will pay $1.45 million to its affordable housing trust fund, the borough announced. Rumson will work with a nonprofit to build a 14-unit, 100 percent affordable project on Carton Street with funds from the trust.
Mumford told The Two River Times Wednesday that he was limited in what he could discuss due to the ongoing settlement. However, he said he works “diligently on the plans and designs” for these homes that will assist the borough, and will “introduce beautiful housing options that do not exist presently.” Mumford said he will continue to work with the borough so it can satisfy its affordable housing obligation and have a “minimal impact.”
Rumson resident Christopher Cornette said he feels the people
who negotiated with Mumford “just caved in.” He expressed frustration that
Mumford is not bringing any affordable housing to the Yellow Brook projects.
“He passed it off to someone else. I’d like to see him put some affordable
housing on his land anyway.”
Photo by Allison Perrine
Council members had a hard time with the process and plans as well. Councilman John J. Conklin III said it was “gut-wrenching” not being able to talk about the agreement while the process was occurring. He also said Mumford “leveraged the system” and “took advantage” of it.
Councilman James Clayton Kingsbery said he was shocked to learn about the confidential negotiations with Mumford when he first joined the council and is dismayed by the situation. “Unfortunately, this is one of these times when, as much as I don’t want to do it, I’m going to have to swallow hard and vote yes.”
Well over 50 residents spoke out with questions and concerns at the meeting, several speaking more than once. Topics included school population concerns, busing, traffic and environmental impacts, open space, taxes, confidentiality and the next steps, among many others. Residents repeatedly the council not to sign the agreements. Instead, they wanted more time to figure out a new plan or to withdraw altogether.
Resident Donald Devine noted that fair housing is “a real issue and it matters for the entire country and it matters for this area as well,” but that there could be a better way of doing things. Rumson is a wealthy town, he said, “It doesn’t mean that we’re not philanthropic, it doesn’t mean that we don’t think about our neighbors, it doesn’t mean we don’t think about how can we actually solve this issue in a better way.”
Ultimately, the council unanimously agreed to sign the agreements that night, just three days before its deadline of Jan. 17.
“The judge has made this very clear that she wants this off her plate,” said Mayor Joseph Hemphill. “We have to make the prudent call, the right call, in order to make this town work and function correctly, to give us our zoning and planning that we can rely on. If we get that stripped from us, then this council did a really poor job for the town.”
This story originally appeared in the Jan. 16, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
