West Amwell Township Housing Committee Meeting

COAH

October 25, 2001

The meeting was called to order at 7:15PM.

Members present were Sue Molnar, Linda Wilson, Nancy Palladino, and Betty Jane Hunt.

Members absent were Joan Vander Veen, and Ruth Hall.

The minutes of September 19 were approved. Motion made by Palladino and seconded by Molnar with all ayes except Hunt who abstained.

Palladino presented a copy of a letter dated 10-1-01 and received 10-4-01 that was given to the township committee for discussion at their 10-17-01 regular township meeting. The letter from Shirley Bishop, Executive Director of the N.J. Council on Affordable Housing, was written as a response to this committee’s inquiry on the current status of West Amwell’s affordable housing program after the litigation was terminated. It also contained a copy of the Final Order approving settlement agreement judgment of compliance and dismissing litigation dated April 21, 1999. and signed by Judge Mahon of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Hunterdon County. The letter indicates that all proposals to implement any aspect of conforming to the mandate to address affordable housing in West Amwell must be on file with COAH and in compliance with existing methodology. At present any ordinances that were passed by the Township Committee in 1999 were not sent or approved by COAH. Clerk Hunt will locate these documents which include but are limited to the Development Fee Ordinance, the spending Plan, RCA, Rehabilitation Component. Accessory Dwelling Program, etc. We will check to see if they were done by Ordinance and all must be submitted to COAH. The next deadline for filing of a new housing element/fair share plan will be January 14, 2005 to remain under the jurisdiction of COAH.

It was note that $1800.00 was budgeted in 2001 to income verify applicants and since we are doing that now, nothing was spent.

It was noted that any segments of the Master Plan, which are under discussion and review by the Township Planning Board now should be included once the Master Plan is adopted.

Sue Molnar will resurrect the Model Spending Plan and tailor it to West Amwell for the next meeting.

Nancy presented a copy of the new Ordinance for ECHO that was passed by Kingwood Township on July 16, 2001. According to the Hunterdon County Housing Corporation this is the most recent adaptation in Hunterdon County that they are aware of. Nancy dropped off a copy to Jim Gallos of the Hunterdon County Department of Health since it still contained similar language regarding wastewater treatment/septic systems as the other ECHO Ordinances this committee has been considering as models for the West Amwell Ordinance.

Jim confirmed that the language used in all the Ordinances he was given are not in conformance with their guidelines for ECHO units and therefore cannot be approved by his department in regards to septic. That means that the application must be sent to NJDEP for their review, approval and issued a NJPDES permit. On October 10 he sent a letter to this effect to all Hunterdon County Boards of Health, Township Planning Boards, Township Clerks, and Township Engineers. Nancy showed this letter to the COAH Committee along with a County Health Department ECHO Program application form.

The Committee reviewed the recent Kingwood Ordinance keeping the Permit-By Rule criteria in mind. The maximum square footage of 750 was reduced to 720. The minimum age was changed from 60 to 62 with a reference to definition per HUD. Also, added was an allowance for the disabled. (18 years or older). An allowance for ECHO units in all Residential and Residential/Agricultural Zones was stated. Minimum lot area was considered to be at one acre even though the current zoning is 2-acre minimum for subdivision purposes since one-acre lots did exist under previous zoning. It was noted that even though rear lot placement was most desirable, the Planning Board could grant a waiver for side yard placement. There was concern over whether such a waiver should carry with it a requirement for notification. Further discussion of a possible ECHO Ordinance will continue.

Also, proof of approval by the Department of Health (County) was to be required to be submitted to the Township Planning Board and a statement regarding the necessity for a secondary 1000-gallon tank conforming to Permit-By-Rule Authorization will be included. WE need information on current application fees since we will likely suggest the amount to be similar to the Accessory Dwelling Application.

We will meet again on November 15, 2001 at 7:100pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Nancy Palladino