MANASQUAN — The Manasquan Planning Board unanimously adopted its Housing Element and Fair Share Plan on Tuesday night, setting the borough up to meet the most recent round of affordable housing obligations.
The plan identifies three sites that could potentially fulfill the borough’s required 10 units of affordable housing, including the Old Schoolhouse building on Main Street. A historic building in Manasquan that was built in 1914, the commercial use property has housed a variety of small businesses over the years.
“These three projects that are identified tonight, really all we are doing is identifying these sites as the areas to achieve these affordable housing requirements. The details are still yet to be hammered out specifically,” Mayor Michael Mangan said at this week’s planning board meeting. The plan will be submitted to the borough mayor and council for final approval at a future council meeting.
The initial calculations issued by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs determined Manasquan’s prospective need for the fourth round of affordable housing to be 64 units. However, after a vacant land adjustment, which identifies the buildable land in Manasquan by examining vacant, tax-exempt and public land that was reviewed for potential housing options, the realistic development potential in town calculated was 10 affordable units, borough planner Christine Bell said.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Bell presented the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, required to be passed and submitted to the state no later than June 30, which sets the course for New Jersey municipalities to fulfill their required share of affordable housing through zoning ordinances and future developments.
The Fair Share Plan adopted by the planning board addresses how Manasquan will realize its obligated affordable housing units and includes the three potential development projects that will fulfill Manasquan’s obligated amount of units for the fourth round that begins on July 1 and concludes in 2035.
The Fair Share Plan proposed constructing 14 townhomes, three of which would be affordable units, at 23 Taylor Ave. the location of the Old Schoolhouse building.
Mayor Mangan said that the proposed concept mimics a smaller version of the Virginia Crossing homes in Manasquan. According to Mayor Mangan, the affordable housing concept plans for the demolition of the building to make way for the townhouses.
“I want to be clear about this project. This was brought to us; we did not seek it out. This is an iconic building in Manasquan. It’s important to mention the owners are retaining ownership of this building,” Mayor Mangan said of the Old Schoolhouse property at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Currently, the century-old building located at 23 Taylor Ave., situated on the west side of Route 71, hosts Hope Community Church, Allaire Gymnastics, RAD Shirts Print Shop, Disco Tips Nails, Organic and Holistic Hairstylist and several other businesses.
Albert Adamcykz Jr., who manages the Old Schoolhouse building, told The Coast Star, “We right now have no intention of disrupting our tenants and developing that property. We’re going to keep the conversation open with the town, but at this moment and in the near future we have no intention of developing the property.”
Mayor Mangan said he spoke with Old Schoolhouse building owners, who had professionals that submitted plans to the borough for the property.
According to the Fair Share Plan, the largest project will fulfill five units of affordable housing. Trenton Partners is seeking to develop the project at the east side of Route 71 at Curtis Avenue, which is 56 Union Ave. The building is located across from Dunkin’ and currently houses J&A Breakfast, Mathnasium and The Pool House, among other tenants.
The proposed concept in the Fair Share Plan is to construct a mixed-use building consisting of 24 residential units, including five affordable units, 3,000 square feet of retail space and 35 parking spaces.
Trenton Partners was co-founded by Michael Cocuzza and Michael Michowski, according to their website. Trenton Partners could not be reached for comment.
“The reason that one was selected for the largest number is because it’s on a block that’s already entirely multi-unit residential,” Mayor Mangan said of the development.
Mangan detailed that preliminary concept plans include a ground level parking area with two levels of apartments on top and a storefront that faces Route 71.
The third and smallest project proposed in the Fair Share Plan is located at 11-13 Pearce Ave., adjacent to Main Street. The project is referred to as “Sepe” in the fourth round plan. The concept plan for the project will include a total of 12 units, two of which would be affordable units. Along with the 12 units, the project concept includes 837 square feet of retail space.
The fourth round plan shared at this week’s planning board meeting detailed the borough’s satisfaction of prior round obligations, which includes the Broad Street and Union Avenue projects by William B. Sepe and William R. Sepe. The Broad Street project consists of 22 market-rate units and the Union Avenue project consists of 14 market-rate units and nine affordable family rental units. These projects were the result of a builder’s remedy lawsuit by the Sepes. The Broad Street project was approved by the borough planning board on Oct. 20, 2020. The Union Avenue development was approved by the borough planning board on March 16, 2021.
A call to William R. “Bill” Sepe by telephone on Wednesday was not returned as of press time.
The plan was unanimously approved by the Manasquan Planning Board, with the blessing of Planning Board engineer Albert Yodakis, who said, “I would have no objection to the board adopting this plan.”
NEXT STEPS
According to Mayor Mangan, after the Fair Share Plan is adopted and the three project negotiations are finalized, the development of engineering, architectural and concept plans will be the next steps forward. Zoning ordinances surrounding each project will then be crafted to fit each affordable unit specific to each property, expected to be finalized by August. The ordinances permitting the affordable housing projects will be up for review by the Planning Board once completed, and reviewed for consistency with the borough’s master plan. Once the ordinances are adopted, the projects will be greenlit, Mayor Mangan said.
“There’s going to be many more opportunities for the planning board, the council and the public to weigh in on these three projects. These are by no means a done deal, but they are the projects we’ve identified,” Mayor Mangan said at Tuesday night’s meeting.
To meet its unmet need of 57 units, the Fair Share Plan includes a series of drafted zoning ordinances that the borough intends to introduce, including a mandatory set-aside ordinance that would require future development over five units to have 20% affordable units. Additionally, the borough has already adopted an accessory apartment program ordinance that provides financial support to allow homeowners to add small, separate apartments to their homes.
Following the presentation by Bell, Mayor Mangan said, “I’ve spoken on behalf of the entire council and I speak for myself in saying there’s not one of us who feels that this is the best way to achieve the result of good, affordable housing in New Jersey. This is an awful system that needs reform and it needed reform years ago, but as long as we’re in it we do feel that it’s better to be proactive than just putting our heads in the sand.”
This is an excerpt of the print article. For more on this story, read The Coast Star—on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.
Check out our other Manasquan stories, updated daily. And remember to pick up a copy of The Coast Star—on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.
Subscribe today! If you're not already an annual subscriber to The Coast Star, get your subscription today! For just $38 per year, you will receive local mail delivery weekly, with pages and pages of local news and online access to our e-edition on Starnewsgroup.com.
 6x10 4c.jpg)
