The vacant Bank of America property located at 49 West River Road has been purchased by Rumson for redevelopment as a rental project to meet the borough’s affordable housing obligations. Sunayana Prabhu
By Sunayana Prabhu
RUMSON – Rumson Borough Council has been steadily working to meet the borough’s affordable housing obligations pursuant to a 2021 settlement agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center (FSHC). In a letter from Mayor Joseph Hemphill and report released to the community this month, the borough provided an update on its progress.
The borough purchased an existing two-bedroom single-family detached dwelling in 2021, renovated the dwelling and sold it in 2022 to “a verified moderate-income family,” according to a report on its website.
A property purchased by the borough in 2021 will be the site for a new two-family dwelling, each containing three bedrooms, which will begin construction this fall. This project will be partially funded by the NJ Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
In 2022, the borough purchased and renovated a property with an existing single-family detached dwelling containing three bedrooms and, according to the report, the unit has been rented to a moderate-income family.
Construction is expected to start on a four-bedroom unit for individuals with special needs on borough-owned property in early 2024. This project will be partially funded by the Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA).
In lieu of a portion of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund payment, a developer donated a property on Carton Street where a small age-restricted affordable rental project is planned; construction should begin in late 2024.
The borough bonded for and just completed the purchase of the vacant Bank of America property located at 49 West River Road, which will become the location of a small affordable rental development project.
Rumson’s responsibility to meet affordable housing obligations began with the 1975 Mount Laurel I Supreme Court case, which ruled that every municipality has a constitutional obligation to provide its fair share of affordable housing.
According to documents available on Rumson’s website, the borough needs to provide a total of 603 affordable residential projects in the community, which includes 268 units from the prior round of obligations between 1987 and 1999 that were unfulfilled, and additional units to be fulfilled by 2025.
In 2015, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued its Mount Laurel IV decision that transferred control of the state’s affordable housing oversight and plan approval from the state agency Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) to the court. The court determined how many affordable units each New Jersey community would be obligated to have in their Affordable Housing Plan.
The June 2021 settlement required Rumson to realistically create 51 affordable housing units, resulting in 552 affordable housing units of unmet need.
To manage future development and to address its affordable housing obligation, the borough adopted a Housing Element and Fair Share Plan (HEFSP) in 2020. The borough received court approval of the HEFSP in June 2021, which provides immunity from future builder’s remedy lawsuits until July 2025.
A builder’s remedy lawsuit is legal action taken by a developer in court to force a municipality to allow higher-density developments than its zoning laws permit if it has not satisfied its affordable housing obligation. The municipality then runs the risk of having little input regarding its overall development.
Rumson is partnering with nonprofit organizations that help fund, construct and administer the housing projects. The borough has published its ongoing efforts to meet its affordable housing obligation, including appointing an Affordable Housing Committee in 2021. The committee meets throughout the year to discuss general affordable housing topics and opportunities in the borough.
In addition to the planned developments, the borough’s Market to Affordable Program provides a subsidy to owners of existing dwellings who are interested in selling their properties at or below market rate prices to make the dwellings affordable to low- and moderate-income families.
“Given the current real estate market conditions, there are few opportunities to purchase dwellings for this program,” Hemphill said in the letter to residents. “The borough will continue to monitor the market in search of dwellings to increase Rumson’s affordable housing inventory.”
While Rumson resident Stu Sendell applauds the borough for taking “a step in the right direction and communicating efforts” about the planning and construction of affordable homes, he said he still has concerns. He is glad the borough posted the annual affordable housing report on its website, but said he is confused as to the types of projects listed. According to Sendell, borough officials “did not explain how they’re heading in directions that are not the ones that the settlement agreement requires.”
He also said the borough is “well over a year and a half behind” schedule on some of the projects, noting the Carlton Street project was supposed to be completed this year. Sendell also complained that the Affordable Housing Committee meetings are not open to the public and minutes of the meetings are not available.
The borough is making changes “unilaterally,” said Sendell, again referencing the Carlton Street project which he said was supposed to be a mixture of units for children with disabilities and also rentals for families. “Now they’re saying it’s going to be age-restricted,” he said.
He also questioned the marketing of the units to “single people, even though the units have two or three bedrooms in some cases.”
Sendell said he is reaching out to FSHC to ask them to investigate the matter further but “it’s a little frustrating.”
When reached for comment the borough deferred to the letter and report on the website in lieu of commenting directly.
In addition to the Affordable Housing Plan, the borough operates a rehabilitation program for low- and moderate-income families that own or rent dwellings that require certain repairs and rehabilitation. Residents interested in participating in these programs can contact Rumson Borough Hall for more information.
The borough anticipates the construction of over 20 dwellings prior to July 2025 to meet its affordable housing obligation and is seeking the support of residents in making Rumson a more economically inclusive community.
This article originally appeared in the August 31 – September 6, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
