BOE president slams senior housing conversion

BOE president slams senior housing conversion
Planning Board to hear application Jan. 27
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

TINTON FALLS — An application for a 300-unit housing development is set to be heard by the Planning Board later this month and has school officials worried about having to build a new school.

The applicant, Rose Glen at Tinton Falls, is scheduled to appear in front of the board on Jan. 27, seeking approval for a conversion of the application from active adult housing to non-age-restricted housing.

Developer Caruso Building LLC originally received approval for an age-restricted housing development in 2007 for the site located between Shafto Road and West Park Avenue and Tormee Drive, but has yet to start construction.

A state Senate bill, S2577, signed into law last spring permits the conversion of age-restricted housing developments to non-agerestricted housing under certain circumstances.

Tinton Falls Board of Education President Peter Karavites said last week that he will attend the Planning Board meeting and hopes that the conversion does not take place.

“We will be going to the meeting on the 27th because our Planning Board about three years ago gave permission with a variance to allow a large senior housing development to go on West Park and Shafto,” he said. “Then a conversion bill was passed … that allows the senior developments that haven’t put a shovel in the ground to be converted to market-rate housing.

“We of course are totally against that,” he added. “That is almost 900 bedrooms; that would kill the schools, overrun us with children.”

Ocean Township Attorney Thomas Hirsch is representing the Planning Board on the application.

Hirsch, who is taking the place of board attorney Dennis Collins, who recused himself, explained the intent of the new legislation.

“The purpose of this act is construct more affordable houses,” Hirsch said. “You have to make sure at least 20 percent is affordable housing.

“Once it gets under way, we will see exactly what the arguments are and we will see what our professionals have to say,” he added. “It is new so nobody has a lot of experience with these conversion hearings.”

According to the borough engineer’s report, the proposed project consists of 243 marketrate units and 61 affordable units. The market rate units are four-bedroom dwellings, while the affordable units range from one- to threebedroom dwellings.

Under the conversion plan, the number of bedrooms would decrease from 1,148 to 1,110. In the preliminary approval, each dwelling had a 500-square-foot cap.

Karavites said that if the development is built, it would result in the need for a new school in Tinton Falls.

“It will make us build new schools or new wings to schools,” he said. “The developer is going in front of the Planning Board to ask for permission to do it.

“The Board of Education is saying don’t let them,” he added.

Karavites was also critical of the Senate bill, the Planning Board and the Borough Council.

“The way the bill is written [it] is all positive for developers,” he said. “This bill has overstepped the local ability to zone the property the way [municipalities] want.

“I am very angry with our borough and our Planning Board,” he added. “They all point fingers in different directions saying it’s not us. No, it’s all of them, the council had chances to negotiate with the developer.”

According to Karavites, the developer was open to negotiating down the size of the development, but wanted certain concessions from the borough.

Sources said last week that the council turned down an offer from the developer to purchase a portion of the site for $5 million and questioned whether the developer still had the financial ability to go forward with the project.

Karavites said that because the council didn’t broker a deal with the developer, the project would end up costing taxpayers a lot more.

“This whole development is a fiasco that will cost the taxpayers $30-50 million to build a new school and to maintain that school,” he said. “I’m going to get to the council meeting and blast them pretty soon.”

Karavites said the development would have a larger impact than a proposal to privatize 300 units ofmilitary housing atNavalWeapons Station Earle in Colts Neck. The Board of Education is opposed to that proposal because Tinton Falls educates military dependents living at Earle.

“This is huge, it is double the amount of [bedrooms] that Earle would bring,” he added. “This will get tax dollars, but those tax dollars won’t come close to being enough to build a new school and to staff a new school.

“The numbers we came out with are that it will cost the taxpayer $4 [million] to $6 million to build a new school and to man it, and that’s forever,” he continued. “They can say truthfully your taxes went up because of your school board, but the bottom line is you’ve made us bring your taxes up.”

Karavites added that building a new school might not even be feasible.

“We don’t even have property for a new school,” he said. “With school districts, you have to go out for referendum, and the taxpayers won’t want to spend $30 million-$50 million.

“Our schools are going to go downhill, we will start having huge class sizes and we will have to put trailers up and then the public will say, ‘Enough’s enough go build a new school,’ but by then it will be too late.”

Karavites said that he expects the Board of Education to be blamed for any future problems resulting from the development, even though he has tried to stop the plan from the start.

“What I’m livid with is our council, mayor and Planning Board, they will blame us in five years and say your taxes are up because of our school board,” he said. “Well, you had a chance five years ago to stop this.

“They are going to blame the new law and blame everyone but themselves,” he added. “I was on the Planning Board then, and two or three of us voted to stop this and said, ‘Please don’t turn this into senior housing because you never know,’ and look what happened.”