Somerset Development asked the Township Committee last night to permit a zoning change that would void a senior community's age-restriction status in order to attract younger family-oriented home buyers and stave off hits from the poor economy. But a group of residents cried foul at the deed change, which would substantially increase the value of the property when the age restriction is lifted and buyers of all ages are welcomed. They argued the developer, Somerset Development, should have to either bid again for the property or pay the township the value difference from before and after the deed change. "They're playing hanky-panky with the taxpayers,'' said resident Berel Shushan, who projected the difference in value to be about $4 million. Somerset head Ralph Zucker said, according the township, the increase in value was likely 10 to 20 percent. "I'm not comfortable supporting this unless the township is compensated,'' Committeeman Steven Langert said during Thursday's meeting, where the 2009 budget was adopted with one of the lowest projected surplus in 10 years - about $4 million. Read full APP article here.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Somerset Development Takes Heat At Committee Meeting
Somerset Development asked the Township Committee last night to permit a zoning change that would void a senior community's age-restriction status in order to attract younger family-oriented home buyers and stave off hits from the poor economy. But a group of residents cried foul at the deed change, which would substantially increase the value of the property when the age restriction is lifted and buyers of all ages are welcomed. They argued the developer, Somerset Development, should have to either bid again for the property or pay the township the value difference from before and after the deed change. "They're playing hanky-panky with the taxpayers,'' said resident Berel Shushan, who projected the difference in value to be about $4 million. Somerset head Ralph Zucker said, according the township, the increase in value was likely 10 to 20 percent. "I'm not comfortable supporting this unless the township is compensated,'' Committeeman Steven Langert said during Thursday's meeting, where the 2009 budget was adopted with one of the lowest projected surplus in 10 years - about $4 million. Read full APP article here.
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14 comments:
Rabosay! This is a chilul Hashem sheain Kamoyhu. Something has to be done.
Dose anyone really care? This 4 million is not going to lower your taxes, people just can't fargin.
not a question of fargining. We all absorb the extra taxes. Why shouldnt he be giving US some of the $$$?
this 4 million would have lowered your taxes by 5 cents which is exactly the same amount our taxes are going up.
Read the article on app and you will see who perpetuated a chilul hashem. This kind of thing used to go on by people that were not bnei torah. They had the attitude that "uib m'ret in yiddesh ken mtien vous m'vil"
It is a shanda that the highest level of bnei torah are doing the same kind of things and they think no one will notice.
Read the comments on app, unfortunately I have to agree with some of the anti-Semites.
Yes, some of us care about our reputation as yiddin, care about how ben torah should act in business that there shouldn't even be a shmeck of impropriety.
Maybe we fargin that us, our children, our neighbors should be able to walk with our heads up high that we are religious Jews.
Maybe we fargin ourselves the right not to have to go to work and have to explain to our colleagues why the latest driedel being run by "fin unzerer" is not morally incomprehensible.
I think a better idea would be to take the 4 million dollar diffrence in the price of the houses. which would in a way be like gov. supported affordable housing
What happened to the 9 million dollars? We should have spoken up then also. We would have had the 9 million plus the 5 million, that would be a nice amount to shave off from the tax burden.
We are the farginners, the developers & their supporters are the non-farginners.
We should congradulate the 3-4 indviduals that stood up for all of us.
Whoever feels that the developers can continue taking our tax dollars, please step up & help me pay my taxes- We don't want to be foreclosed on.
please explain, I'm at a loss here. I don't recall a case where one frum yid goes against another in public because of us tax revenue. If the zoning is not changed everything remains the same, what will you gain? why is it hanky panky? All over the state, developers are trying to change the zoning. The builders are losing a fortune sitting on land they can't use.It's good for the economy if the can build. Nobody is buying any property now, so to say that years ago it was worth 4 million more is not fair in today's market. There is nothing wrong with govt helping move building along, they're doing it in all sectors.
anon 2:56 I'll gladly pay you the difference in taxes that you personally will have to pay if the zoning change goes through.
In return, you have to stop feeding fire to the anti semites out there. Before you wash your dirty laundry in public, make sure it doesn't affect your fellow jew.
Shouldn't BMG get the 4 mil? They were the ones who sold it, let them work ot out. Anyways, never in biz do you pay more because the vakue goes up or down later, why is this different?
first of all let's get something straight. the developer has approached the township for relief. he wants the town to lift the deed restriction on the property. if u were there as I was you would have heard steve langert read from the attorney that the town is well within its rights to ask for more $$. the svara is as follows: when the town sold the land it was only able to get what it got (ie 9 mill) because the land was sold for senior housing. had the land been sold at the time for regular housing they would have gotten more. so now the town is well within its rights to charge for lifting the deed restriction. there is a big problem because the original $$ never went to the town. according to the deed the town only got ten dollars. according to the developer the $$ went to the yeshivah. the yeshivah promised to use that $$ for the infrastructure at the corporate campus. so a big yasher koiach to those who got up and to steve for speaking out. there is nothing wrong with the town getting some $$ to help everyone!!!!
Since the money didnt go to the township ,this makes no sense . Even if it would have sold for more at that time ,the extra money would have gone to BMG and not the Township . Therefore only BMG could ask for more today and no the TWP . Somerset bought it privately from BMG and not the twp .
I guess you are right on some lomdeshe level. except that right now the developer needs the township so it's within their right to charge him. I guess they could turn over whatever money they get to BMG.
I am not denying that the Twp technically has the right to charge him. I am just arguing with those people that are vocal in stating that the Twp has to charge him or they would be cheating the public . That is not true as they would not have gotten the money in the first place. Generally when a developer buys something from a private party and later asks for zoning relief , the twp just decides one way or the other but doesn't charge him money even if they grant the relief. In this case the screamers are really just trying to make BMG look bad by focusing on the fact that they got the 9 mill.
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