TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—The township might be receiving approximately $50,000 less for its Affordable Housing Trust Fund due to the proposed 66-unit Viviano project being reduced from its original 73 units and taking the number of affordable units required from the agreed-upon 15 down to 13.
The two fewer affordable units—agreed to be reimbursed at $25,000 apiece—will likely cut the total affordable trust fund reimbursement from $375,000 to $325,000 for the township.
Planning Board attorney Louis Lamatina did not immediately return our requests for comment.
At the June 2 Planning Board hearing, questions were raised about the status of affordable housing obligations at the Viviano American Dream Estates development project settled with the township in 2001. The 14.32-acre property, near Immaculate Heart Academy, is at 463 Van Emburgh Ave. between Van Emburgh Avenue and the Garden State Parkway.
Since that agreement, the Township has paid off its obligation to Bayonne but that payment appears unrelated to the 2001 Viviano affordable housing agreement, which calls for three payments of $125,000 each—none of which have been made by the applicant.
Also, based on two online documents, a 2020 master’s report and a 2020 Washington Township Affordable Trust Fund Spending Plan, it appears none of the payments owed by either Viviano, or a future Viviano site developer, were tied to the township’s prior deal to execute a regional contribution agreement with Bayonne for 11 affordable housing credits.
That RCA agreement was funded by a prior $360,000 payment that the township received from Stonybrook Construction Corporation from a 1998 affordable settlement, according to Township Attorney Kenneth Poller, who is cited in a 2020 affordable trust fund report.
The proposed development’s next Planning Board hearing is July 21, with board and public comment likely and a possible board vote on the long-discussed and controversial project.
According to its 2001 agreement, the Viviano estate must pay for a 20% affordable set-aside for the 66 units, which equals about 13 affordable units, at a cost of $25,000 per unit. No affordable units will be built on site, as per the agreement.
And according to a report prepared in September 2020 by the township’s special master, the township already paid off its Bayonne Regional Contribution Agreement for $275,000, which earned them 11 affordable housing credits at $25,000 per unit.
Those payments were transmitted based on an Regional Contribution Agreement approved by the Council on Affordable Housing on June 5, 2002.
Since 2008, regional contribution agreements, which allowed municipalities to “send” up to half of their affordable housing obligations to “receiving” municipalities, often inner-city or urban areas, have been outlawed.
Gov. Jon Corzine signed a law prohibiting such affordable transfers, noting the agreements helped concentrate poverty and did not address housing and racial segregation.
Fair Share Housing Center’s spokesman Anthony Campisi told Pascack Press that RCAs are no longer viable but some, like Washington Township’s, are grandfathered in.
“RCAs were eliminated by the state Legislature beginning in 2008, partly because this type of thing happened often: Payments would be made but projects, for whatever reason, weren’t advancing and the state’s affordable housing need wasn’t being addressed,” he said.
“Earlier RCAs, like this one, were grandfathered in, but no town has been permitted to use RCAs in the current compliance (third) round,” Campisi added.
At Viviano’s June 2 hearing, two concerns arose—what the applicant owes the township and what the town has paid to Bayonne—when toward the end of the hearing member Tom Sears wondered if the applicant had paid off its affordable housing bill to the township.
Applicant attorney Ron Shimanowitz said the $375,000 originally owed was not paid because it is not yet due. Sears then asked Lamatina if the township was obligated in any way to pay off the $375,000. Lamatina said no.
But left unexplained was the status of Viviano’s affordable obligations and any possible ties to the Bayonne regional contribution agreement. Based on recent reports reviewed by Pascack Press, there does not appear to be any link between the two items.
Washington Township has already paid off obligations for 11 units under its 2002 Regional Contribution Agreement, a point not mentioned during the hearing.
The master’s report, prepared in 2020 for the township’s affordable compliance hearing, noted that “according to the Township Attorney Kenneth G. Poller, ”the Township has paid the sum of $275,000 to Bayonne, making the township eligible for 11 Regional Contribution Agreement (RCA) credits towards its Prior Round RDP.”
RDP, for realistic development potential, is the number of affordable units each town is required to provide under its agreement.
It was not clear when the payments were made but it may have been around 2002 when the prior, or second round agreement, was approved by COAH. COAH was disbanded by the state Supreme Court in 2015 after years of inaction and stalemate and state Superior Courts now adjudicate affordable housing settlements.
The agreement signed in 2001 by the applicant was a payment in lieu of construction with three installments of $125,000 to be paid. The first installment was to be paid upon signing of the final subdivision site plan map or conclusion of all appeals from the adoption of the approving resolution.
That has not yet occurred. And neither of the two following installments—both contingent upon home and townhomes sales—have been paid off.
Those include: a second installment of $125,000 paid upon closing of the title for sale of 25% of the units proposed to be constructed; a third installment of $125,000 was to paid upon the closing of title for sale of 50% of the units proposed for construction.
The Master’s Report For a Mount Laurel Compliance Hearing estimated the $125,000 installments would be made in 2020, 2021 and 2022, but these were likely stalled due to Covid-related delays.
The 2020 Washington Township Affordable Housing Trust Fund Spending Plan, available on township website, makes clear what is owed and when based on the 2001 affordable housing agreement.
“Funds received from the three anticipated payments-in-lieu-of construction from the Viviano tract will be used for eligible affordable housing activities within the township according the schedules provided herein and will be subject to the applicable criteria and limitation for the use of such funds, including the maximum amount that can be expended for administrative purposes and the minimum affordability assistance requirement,” notes the 2020 Washington Township Affordable Housing Trust Fund Spending Plan.
“The remainder of the funds will be used for any other eligible affordable housing activity, including the creation of additional affordable housing units or potentially to subsidize the creation of very-low-income units,” states the plan.
“Where a compliance mechanism is not specifically detailed in this spending plan (e.g., projects to be included under Section 4[e], entitled Other Projects), the township shall within six (6) months from the receipt of such funds submit details on the proposed compliance mechanism to the Court and, if necessary, request approval from the Court for an amended spending plan prior to making any such expenditures,” adds the plan.