Millville Housing Authority

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Millville meets housing rules; will focus on rehab projects

By JOEL LANDAU
The Daily Journal
January 20, 2009

MILLVILLE -- The city will have more resources to spend rehabilitating affordable homes, thanks to new state rules.

In December, the city submitted its plan for meeting the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing obligations through 2018.

But, according to city projections, Millville has already met the projected required number of affordable housing units for 2018. Now, instead of finding ways to create new affordable housing units like other towns will be forced to do, the city can collect more money from developers when they build new projects and use those funds to rehabilitate existing homes, according to Planning Director Kim Ayres.

"It's a great situation to be in," she said. If developing affordable homes in a project "makes sense for the developer we would certainly encourage it, but we don't have to do it just for the sake of satisfying COAH."

Under new state guidelines, a town must provide one affordable housing unit for every four new market-rate homes and 16 jobs created.

The city projects its number of market-rate homes will increase from 1,015 in 2004 to 2,186 in 2018. The city also projects there will be 3,000 new jobs created by 2018.

According to those figures, Millville will be required to supply 790 affordable homes by 2018. But the city already has enough affordable homes to meet that obligation -- with a surplus of 94 units, Ayres said.

Because of the surplus, Ayres said, the city will not have to focus on luring affordable-home projects merely to meet state obligations.

Developers also could put money into the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund rather than build a few affordable housing units in their plans to meet the obligation.

The city can use that money to build new affordable housing units or rehabilitate existing properties, Ayres said. The money also can be distributed to local groups, such as AHOME and the Holly City Development Corp., to support their affordable housing projects, she said.

The new guidelines state developers must pay to the trust fund 1.5 percent of the assessed value of new residential projects and 2.5 percent of new non-residential projects.

The guideline has been criticized as impeding growth, but before it was implemented last summer, the city had to negotiate with developers for how much money they should have to contribute, Ayres said.

The fund has about $150,000, Ayres said.

	Press Release About Us > News & Press Releases > Press Release Millville meets housing rules; will focus on rehab projects By JOEL LANDAU The Daily Journal January 20, 2009 MILLVILLE -- The city will have more resources to spend rehabilitating affordable homes, thanks to new state rules. In December, the city submitted its plan for meeting the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing obligations through 2018. But, according to city projections, Millville has already met the projected required number of affordable housing units for 2018. Now, instead of finding ways to create new affordable housing units like other towns will be forced to do, the city can collect more money from developers when they build new projects and use those funds to rehabilitate existing homes, according to Planning Director Kim Ayres. "It's a great situation to be in," she said. If developing affordable homes in a project "makes sense for the developer we would certainly encourage it, but we don't have to do it just for the sake of satisfying COAH." Under new state guidelines, a town must provide one affordable housing unit for every four new market-rate homes and 16 jobs created. The city projects its number of market-rate homes will increase from 1,015 in 2004 to 2,186 in 2018. The city also projects there will be 3,000 new jobs created by 2018. According to those figures, Millville will be required to supply 790 affordable homes by 2018. But the city already has enough affordable homes to meet that obligation -- with a surplus of 94 units, Ayres said. Because of the surplus, Ayres said, the city will not have to focus on luring affordable-home projects merely to meet state obligations. Developers also could put money into the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund rather than build a few affordable housing units in their plans to meet the obligation. The city can use that money to build new affordable housing units or rehabilitate existing properties, Ayres said. The money also can be distributed to local groups, such as AHOME and the Holly City Development Corp., to support their affordable housing projects, she said. The new guidelines state developers must pay to the trust fund 1.5 percent of the assessed value of new residential projects and 2.5 percent of new non-residential projects. The guideline has been criticized as impeding growth, but before it was implemented last summer, the city had to negotiate with developers for how much money they should have to contribute, Ayres said. The fund has about $150,000, Ayres said.