Parsippany meeting an education in affordable housing

Parsippany's biggest challenge is affordable housing, Mayor James Barberio told a group of residents at a recent meeting. The mayor said because there has been much discussion about affordable housing within the community he held the meeting to clear the air and educate residents on the issues.

Residents of the Glacier Hills and Sedgefield homes attended the invitation-only meeting on March 22 held at the municipal hall.

“One of the reasons I am having this meeting is that there is a lot of misinformation going out, like what’s happening at the Mack-Cali site,” he said referring to previous reports of residential housing considered for the business buildings, some nearly vacant. 

Carlos Guzman, president of the Sedgefield Civic Association, in January said he had spoken with the mayor about the possibility of transforming some of the Route 202 Mack-Cali buildings into apartments. The mayor did not say whether or not there have been discussions pertaining to the Mack-Cali buildings concerning residential housing, but did say there are currently no applications for housing for the site.

The mayor spoke for a short time and gave the floor to township attorney John Inglesino who gave the audience an in-depth history lesson on affordable housing in New Jersey going back to 1975 and the Mount Laurel Decision. Inglesino's presentation will be posted to the township's website when ready.

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The Mount Laurel Decision ruling was the foundation for guidelines aimed at preventing “discrimination against the poor,” according to the Fair Share Housing Center. 

Inglesino said the township has an obligation to provide affordable housing in response to residents' questions and that more residential housing is inevitable for Parsippany. 

In January the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that municipalities must allow the development of affordable housing for poor and middle-class families whose needs were ignored for more than 16 years.

The state's top court voted 6-0 to reject arguments advanced by several towns, Governor Christie's administration and the League of Municipalities, who said local governments faced no legal requirement to provide affordable housing for poor and middle-class families during a period spanning from 1999 to 2015.

In 2015, the state Supreme Court shut down the Coalition on Affordable housing and handed the matter over to Superior Court Judges which will work with each municipality to calculate its obligation to affordable housing. 

“You talked about tentative meetings that you will have that we are not privy to. At what point will the people in the affected areas be privy?” asked Judy Hernandez from Glacial Hills. “At what part of the planning process will we be privy to what’s going to happen?”

“We are not at the stage yet where we are dialoguing back and forth with plans,” said Inglesino. “Some of that is going to depend on circumstances.” 

Residents told the officials they are afraid they will not be kept in the information loop, but Inglesino said if the township gets to the point where action needs to be taken, residents will be notified.

One resident asked about the impact of new residents to the township and Inglesino said “you can’t use an influx of school children as a basis to deny your affordable housing obligation.” 

“The law is that an influx of schoolchildren and the potential impact on taxes is not a legal basis to not fill your affordable housing obligation,” he said. 

Resident Dolores Alazo asked why so many business and office buildings in the township are vacant and was told by Inglesino that office space causes a unique challenge for Parsippany.

“The world is changing. The changing world requires a certain type of development done a certain way and certain locations,” Inglesino said. “That vacant office space in Parsippany, which served the community well at one time is presenting a challenge now.” 

The township's council members were not invited to the meeting. One council member attended as a resident of the affected housing communities.

Councilman Robert Peluso, who announced he will challenge Barberio in June's Republican mayoral primary election, said he was not happy about the private meeting.  

“Unfortunately, the mayor elected to exclude the council from this meeting," Peluso wrote in an email. "As you know, the mayor held this meeting as a private meeting and directed that it was by invitation only. As a result, council members, as well as large numbers of the public, were unable to attend,“ he wrote. "The taxpayers deserve to know the full scope of the proposed projects and the potential impact on our neighborhoods."

Email: myers@northjersey.com