{"id":22458,"date":"2023-07-12T04:19:56","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T08:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/?p=22458"},"modified":"2023-07-12T04:20:26","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T08:20:26","slug":"brick-to-enter-50-year-pact-to-build-8-unit-income-based-housing-for-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/2023\/07\/brick-to-enter-50-year-pact-to-build-8-unit-income-based-housing-for-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"Brick to Enter 50-Year Pact to Build 8-Unit Income-Based Housing for Veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>

A parcel of land in Brick Township that will be dedicated to veterans\u2019 housing. (Photo: Shorebeat)<\/p><\/div>\n

Brick Township officials voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt an ordinance allowing the township to essentially donate a parcel of land it acquired for minimal cost to an organization that will build affordable housing units with veterans\u2019 preference.<\/p>\n

The council, once the organization receives funding and land use approvals, will convey the property at 1701 Route 88, just west of The Home Depot on the opposite side of the road, to Homes Now Inc., which has provided income-based housing locally for senior citizens, victims of domestic violence and the disabled population in the past. The agreement would see the township \u201csell\u201d the land to Homes Now for a token price for $1 in exchange for a 50-year agreement to restrict the units to residents who qualify for affordable housing on the state\u2019s income scale, with a preference for military veterans.<\/p>\n

Housing laws do not allow a deed to formally restrict a property for veterans, township attorney Scott W. Kenneally, however the agency managing the property can, and plans to, add a veterans\u2019 preference as a matter of policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an ordinance that is so woefully needed in our town,\u201d said Councilwoman Marianna Pontoriero. \u201cWe\u2019re under obligation to provide a certain number of affordable housing [units]. By giving this piece of property and earmarking it with veterans\u2019 preference, it gives us the only ability we have to make sure the men and women who\u2019ve served get to stay in Brick, where they live.\u201d<\/p>\n

If, at any point during the 50-year agreement, Homes Now Inc. either ceases to exist or exits the business of managing affordable housing properties, the township would have a right of first refusal to re-acquire the property. Likewise, if Homes Now does not wish to continue the agreement after 50-years, the township could purchase it back. Kenneally said in the unlikely case that this were to occur, the value of the property would reflect the affordable housing deed restrictions, making it worth much less than market value.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A parcel of land in Brick Township that will be dedicated to veterans\u2019 housing. (Photo: Shorebeat)<\/p><\/div>\n

Since the property is located in a business zone, Homes Now, which has been the agency that has managed Brick\u2019s affordable housing obligations under the Mt. Laurel doctrine for years, will have to apply as any other developer would for approval before the zoning board to develop residential units. Only after those approvals are received would the land the transferred and the 50-year agreement would begin. Officials have previously said the eight units will consist of one and two-bedroom apartments.<\/p>\n

Brick, Kenneally said, acquired the half-acre parcel of land through a tax foreclosure and has no other public use for it. Pontoriero, speaking in favor of the project, said it is also symbolic of the township\u2019s commitment to its military veterans.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur veterans who\u2019ve gone away to serve and come back will know their community is looking out for them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brick Township officials voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt an ordinance allowing the township to essentially donate a parcel of land it acquired for minimal cost to an organization that will build affordable housing units with veterans\u2019 preference. The council, once the organization receives funding and land use approvals, will convey the property at 1701 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[4987,1505,24,4484,2450,807],"class_list":["post-22458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-1701-route-88","tag-affordable-housing","tag-brick-nj-news","tag-featured","tag-homes-now-inc","tag-veterans"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DJI_0432-scaled.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgt2Ft-5Qe","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}