JACKSON – Residents questioned affordable housing, legal issues, and other aspects of the Jackson Parke South development that was recently approved by the Township Planning Board.
During the public comment period of a recent Township Council meeting, resident Jeff Nemeth asked whether it was proper for residents present to testify during meetings of the Township Planning Board as to whether they were members of Citizens United to Protect our Neighborhoods (CUPON) – Jackson/Manchester.
CUPON hired a lawyer to fight the application’s passage. The attorney representing Jackson Parke South said as group members would have their views represented by CUPON’s attorney so only non-members should have a voice in commenting on the issues of that application.
“If you have to ask our residents if they are part of groups, I think that is something you guys should squash concerning their possible membership right on the spot,” Nemeth said. “Why can’t you say ‘no that’s not proper?’”
When told that the developer’s attorney had the right to ask if they were CUPON members as it was an issue of questioning any bias in the case, Nemeth replied, “that doesn’t mean we have to accommodate him.”
Nemeth said, “I’ve been watching the Jackson Parke site for 10 years and I never saw anything like that. You have a lawyer asking our people from our township if they are associated with a group and requesting to have people’s e-mails and phone numbers. It was basically intimidation and for our attorney not to speak on their behalf, I mean who has the right to ask our people who they are associated with?”
Township Attorney Gregory McGuckin explained that during an application cross examination “you have an applicant’s attorney or any attorney to ask questions and if the Board has to allow questions like in a trial that is relevant to the proceedings. And that is relevant. That is why they were allowed to ask that question.
“I agree it is difficult and hard for people to appreciate but as an attorney that is what it is they are entitled to ask those questions,” McGuckin added. “If we tried to stop them the Board would be in trouble and that would lead to more fees for the township.”
“I think it is a slick move and I don’t like it. I think it should have been nipped in the bud that is just me speaking,” Nemeth responded.
The resident asked Mayor Michael Reina about the affordable housing law. Towns, by state law, have to provide housing for people of low-to-moderate income. “I just wonder how one decides in our township which are the particular projects that are deemed under that affordable housing?
“As we know Jackson Parke was under a very questionable environmental locations and somewhere four or five years ago this was something agreed upon when the new land owners took this and our very own township okayed this and signed that parcel of land to the affordable housing deal,” Nemeth added. “We saw the Planning Board shoot it down and we saw (former Committeeman) Ken Bressi when he was here, throw a big tantrum but wasn’t he one of the people who signed up for that?”
Council President Andrew Kern said in regards to Nemeth’s question about how the selection of property for the affordable housing agreements were concerned, “at that time – the court order that we were under – we needed to show to the court where we are going to be able to provide affordable housing and a certain percentage. That original development that was proposed had included a fair share (housing) portion. That is why it was included at that time going back a number of years.”
Nemeth asked what the benefit was for Jackson to write in that particular parcel into affordable housing “on wetlands? In a swamp? We had our own people do it and from what I’ve heard we could have vetoed it but it was allowed.”
Kern said he’d done his research in response to Nemeth who said he wanted to hear the answer from Mayor Reina who had spoken to recently about the issue. “That parcel was approved many years ago for a project, so that is the project and that is the affordable housing part of it that was put in there.”
Kern clarified “it had nothing to do with the Jackson Parke South. Adding those affordable units for that parcel to our mandated allotment that we needed to fill, does not mean that they can build whatever they want. The actual project – whether it is just the affordable housing component or all the houses or the whole project as a whole – that is what goes before the planning board and at that point it is either approved or not approved.”
