CAPE MAY — The Cape May Housing Authority is looking for funds to revitalize its 85 subsidized units.
CMHA Board of Commissioners Chairman Keith Lafferty and Executive Director Ronald Miller presented a plan to City Council on Aug. 4, asking for $7.5 million in seed money from the city to renovate the existing units and potentially add 24 affordable units.
Lafferty said the total project cost would be $52.4 million and that CMHA would pay the other $45 million via a mortgage, low-income housing tax credits and other sources.
Of the 85 subsidized homes, 55 are designated for seniors and 30 for families. The proposed plan includes renovating the existing units and adding 24.
“If you look at the $7.5 million and divide it by 109 homes, because we’re going to go from 85 to 109 homes, the city of Cape May is going to contribute $69,000 for these homes and we think that’s a win,” he said. “We think it’s pragmatic and doable.”
Miller said the $7.5 million would pay soft costs including architects, legal fees, engineers and environmental professionals.
“As part of the shared service agreement, what we would propose is that there would be a point of contact between the city and we fund or supply draw requests,” Miller said.
Lafferty added that members of City Council and the audience have visited the CMHA and seen the conditions of the units. He noted that the end units are very small, with senior citizens in them living in dorm-like conditions.
“The current homes in the Cape May Housing Authority are so old that Eisenhower (1953-61) was the president” when they were built, Lafferty said. “They’re dilapidated and we think this plan is long-overdue and we think this endeavor goes hand in hand with the city of Cape May, City Council and the beautification and preservation of Cape May.”
The five-year plan includes adding eight more units for seniors (for a total of 63) and renovating the 30 family units, in addition to adding 16 affordable units. Additional elements in the plan include property beautification and potentially adding more parking.
“Everyone knows the structures in the homes at the Cape May Housing Authority simply do not reflect the best of Cape May,” Lafferty said. “More importantly, they do not reflect the best of the families of Cape May, that is the mothers, the children, the senior citizens and the disabled that live there now.”
Lafferty said there are sociological studies about the benefit of mixing low-income housing with affordable-income homes.
“It lifts the bar of expectation to everyone,” he said, adding that affordable housing allows police officers, firefighters, schoolteachers and nurses live on the island.
Having mixed housing would also encourage year-round shopping, providing business all year, keeping the schools full and overall increasing the year-round population.
“There’s obviously a discrepancy in our beautiful city and we’re looking to do better than this together,” Lafferty said. “The board of Cape May Housing Authority strongly supports this endeavor [and] there’s a sense of urgency as we want to do this project now.”
Miller said that before presenting at the council meeting, a meeting was held for CMHA residents that explained the plan in detail.
“We answered all of their questions and generally received positive feedback from them,” he said.
On relocation, Miller said it’s a huge concern for his staff, council and tenants alike. Tenants would be required to sign off on a plan that outlines every step of the process. He noted it was not a plan to move anyone off the island.
“I have extensive experience with relocation,” he said, adding that it would be governed under the section eight program of the United States Housing Act along with the New Jersey Relocation Assistance Law.
Relocation does mean temporarily relocating out of the unit, which Miller said would be based on bedroom size and allow renovations and construction to be completed.
“I know parking is a challenge in Cape May; it is in all the shore communities,” Miller said. “Our plan is to develop in-fill parking on our properties in conjunction with our development partner. The goal is to try to get 35 parking stalls.”
Miller added the process includes a development plan that must be approved by the city’s planning and zoning boards.
The timeline of the plan includes three years to get the mortgage closing.
“It’s going to be a project that’s going to involve low-income housing tax credits and we also have to get approval from the [U.S. Department of] Housing and Urban Development,” Miller said. “These apartments have deed restrictions on them and those restrictions have to be removed before we can move forward.”
Deputy Mayor Maureen McDade thanked Miller and Lafferty for going through the questions, process, timeline and how the city’s funds would be spent.
“I think that should be really helpful for us to hear but also for the public to hear and understand,” she said.
Mayor Zack Mullock said there would be further discussions moving forward.
“We have an obligation of upwards of 306 units that the city has to provide for affordable housing,” City Manager Paul Dietrich said, adding that the CMHA project is one identified to help meet the city’s obligation.
The city has an affordable housing trust fund that Dietrich said can be spent on projects of this nature.
“If Cape May Housing Authority has requested $7.5 million, if we use $2.5 million of our current housing trust fund to pay for that, it leaves us a balance of $5 million,” Dietrich said, adding that there was potential for appropriations for the budget gap.
“I think we’ll have plenty sufficient funds to pay for this project,” he said. “Another alternative is obviously with increased parking. If council wanted to look at metering that parking, it’s not an area currently metered but would potentially realize $50,000 to $60,000 for those types of parking.”
Councilman Steve Bodnar said the opportunity for 35 additional parking spaces is a collateral benefit to the city, in addition to this project.
Dietrich added that he felt there were ways for the city to move the project forward with minimal impact to the budget.
“The next steps, if council is OK with moving this forward, we would have [solicitor] Chris Gillin-Schwartz talk with their attorneys and we would look at developing an agreement between us and Cape May Housing,” Dietrich said, adding that it would likely include a closed session and then return to council for consideration of authorization.
McDade said that she was happy to see that people currently living in the units are going to have an improved quality of life.
“Thank you to the housing authority and to the board for their great representation,” Mullock said. “Just to remind the public, it’s surprising they don’t even have laundry facilities on campus. It’s in desperate need of revitalization.”
Mullock added that the plan made sense for the community and the people who live there.
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Star and Wave
