Villadom Times Weekly Newpaper Online-February 25, 2009 Issue

Waldwick February 25, 2009 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 3 •• • ••••• The Waldwick Zoning Board of Adjustment recently approved the use variance for 101 Wyckoff Avenue, paving the way for the house to be converted into a four-family residence that will help the borough meet its Council on Affordable Housing obligation. The property, which had fallen into disrepair, was acquired by the borough in a foreclosure sale in 2008. The building was subsequently turned over to Habitat for Humanity’s Bergen County affiliate, which will develop the house into low-income residences. A borough official reported last week that the application will now go before the Bergen County Planning Board. Late last year, Susan Safire, Habitat for Humanity’s executive director, advised the Waldwick Mayor and Council that the house would be refurbished into multiple townhouses and returned to the tax rolls. Following Habitat’s guidelines, donated funds and materials and volunteer labor will be used for the renovation. The units will then be sold to qualified applicants at cost with no interest. Plans call for the formation of a condominium association, which will include a Habitat representative as a member. A Habitat mentor would also be appointed to facilitate the new owners’ transition into home ownership and to provide ongoing support. Borough officials report that the project will have no financial impact on local taxpayers. According to COAH, Waldwick’s fair share affordable housing obligation has been determined to be 70 units. However, the borough’s planner recently prepared a detailed analysis of actual conditions and anticipated development, Board grants use variance for Wyckoff Avenue house and set the growth share obligation at 13. There is also an obligation for four rental units and two very low income (about $17,300) units. The report was prepared by Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, Inc. in December. The third round COAH rules are based on three components: rehabilitation, remaining prior round obligations, and “growth share” - projections of residential and nonresidential growth for the period between Jan. 1, 2004 and Dec. 31, 2018. The borough’s rehabilitation obligation is 26 units. As it has in the past, the borough will satisfy this requirement by participating in the Bergen County Home Improvement Program. Borough residents who meet the income requirements and need major improvements to their homes apply through the county loan program for the needed funds, and the borough receives the rehabilitation credits towards its COAH obligation. Since 2000, eight projects totaling $107,455 have been completed with an average expenditure of $13,500 per rehabilitated unit. In order to meet its prior round obligation of 32 units, the borough is proposing to amend its second round housing plan. The borough had originally proposed to get credit for seven units to be transferred outside the borough under a regional contribution agreement. However, COAH recently discontinued the use of RCAs, and the transfer was denied. Four of these units were generated as part of the DePippo Farm development and three as part of Wayne Court. The COAH plan now proposes that the DePippo developer be asked to either build four additional units on site or within another area of town to satisfy the obligation. The development already contains a requirement for seven onsite affordable units. The funds previously set aside from the Wayne Court development for RCA transfer will be applied towards 101 Wyckoff Avenue. The amendment may also generate a surplus of between six and eight units which could be transferred to the third round. COAH set the town’s growth share at 70, based on the agency’s projection of 223 new residential dwelling units and 408 new jobs during the 14-year designated period. However, Waldwick’s planner found that COAH’s calculations of the vacant areas available for growth included municipal property, such as the pool, areas in the flood plain, and the backyards of homes in the neighboring towns of Midland Park and Wyckoff. The borough has a development fee ordinance in place that applies to all residential and non-residential development, the proceeds of which go to a trust fund to support affordable housing initiatives. Residential development fees equal 1.5 percent of the equalized assessed value for development, with a maximum of six percent for a use variance. Non-residential development fees equal 2.5 percent of the equalized assessed value. The fund now has a balance of $253,858, all of which is committed to 101 Wyckoff Avenue. Any future funds collected “where possible will provide funding for the provision of proposed supportive and special needs housing or municipal construction,” the planner’s report specifies. 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