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Herald & lantern 24 August '83

Tough to Decide Need

By E.J. Duffy • It’s very tough down here, deciding where the housing needs are,".said Ed ward K. Filipaki, supervising planner for Cape May County “It’s a very tough thing to get a handle on," he added "When you drive through Camden, it’s easy, but not down here." Filipski and Martin Teller,- senior county planner, are currently trying to get that handle on how many low- and moderateincome housing units -are needed in the county by using federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines and I960 U.S Ceasus data It’s tough down here using those 1 lltlD) .guidelines." Filipski explained, because they more readily apply to urban areas. Plotting tty? housing needs of affluent Stone Harbor based on the HUD criteria, for example, would show a quarter of the borough's population in nei*l of lowerpriced housing since HUD determines those in need of bousing assistance aS residents who earn less than the median income in a community, he said “What that means is, 25 per cent of your pwiple are going to need help," said the planner III D (iCIDKIJNKS might work on the Mainland, but they don't seem an accurate guage of housing needs in the resorts. Filipski added “You just can't build a $25,000 house in Stone Harbor where a lot costs $150,000," he noted Census data is the best there is, but I

DIRECTOR Barbara Beitel, Middle Township community development director. says it needs low and middle-cost housing and is seeking federal funds to build it

have some doubts about how people report their income on it," Filipski continued. According to I960 county Planning Board figures, more than 82,000 people permanently reside here and 109,170 permanent residents are expected by 1990. Filipski has no preliminary figures on where those future residents will live but, working from Census data and local information, Barbara Beitel, Middle Township's community development director, has determined a need for lowand moderate-priced housing in that municipality. She has applied to the Farmers' Home Administration for funds to build 10 lowerpriced houses, nine in Whitesboro and one .in Court House. So far, she said, more than 30 people have expressed interest in renting the houses if they're approved "MIDDLE TOWNSHIP has a zero rate," Beitel noted. “Will the 10 rental units satisfy* the township need for low- and moderatelypriced homes?" she was asked. "No,” Beitel replied, "but it’s an initial

step ”

"We decided to start with this," she added, noting that the township hopes to get a better idea of its housing needs from the number of applications it receives for the 10 rental houses. Most of the county's municipalities do not employ a community development director, like Beitel. who can study local housing needs and apply for what housing assistance funds arc still available Since a number of lower priced houses are available on the Mainland and subsidized or lower cost housing units have been built in some of the resorts, opinions differ on the need here for low- and moderately-priced homes. VICTORIAN TOWERS and the Lions' Center, privately-operated apartment houses, provide lower cost housing in Cape May a^d Wildwood, respectively, said William Cottman, executive director of the Wildwood Housing Authority, while his agency and its Ocean City counterpart of fer subsidized housing for the elderly and handicapped. Sandman Towers, in Wildwood for instance,’ contains 100 high-rise units while 70 family units are located nearby, he

added.

"We have adequate low-income housing," Cottman continued referring to Wildwood only. "We could use more moderate income units." Several years ago, he had proposed that

"a nice mix” of units be built on

along Wildwood's bayfront. Tljat^Sroposal he said, fell on “deaf ears/'r'fow he con cedes that any low- an<Lmoderatc-priced development would "\/vy definitely" oc-

cur on the Mainland.

"All your barrier islands have limited building capacity...," he said.

Dorlt Ward VILLAS BUILDER — Jack Bowman of Bowman Builders Inc., stands before his office in l/ower Township. Bowman's firm built 800 Bayside Village homes. He's awaiting a state permit to construct 155 more in Holly Estates.

Low-Priced Housing. (From Page 1) DEP has told 15 state builders to provide lower cost housing during the past three ye'ars. "I am about to get my first CAFRA permit and whether that restriction will be in there, I don’t know," said Jack Bowman of Bowman Builders Inc. in Villas, Lower Township. "I doubt it." MOST OF THE HOMES constructed in the township are not expensive models. Bowman thinks enough low- and moderate-priced houses are available there so that the DEP would not require him to build more. He applied for the permit to build Holly Estates, 155 single-family homes ranging from $50,000-$70,000. His outfit is still building $39,000-$60,000 houses in Bayeide Village, an 800 single-family home development where another 100 houses await construction. Developer Larry Mitnick has built more than 3,000 Lawrence Homes in North Cape May and has another 242-units costing “in the six figures" under construction as

Tranquility Village in Cold Spring, he said. Lawrence Homes was built before CAFRA became law and Tranquility’s CAFRA permit does not require Mitnick to set aside a percentage of that development for lowand moderate-income residents. Still, he resents the CAFRA restrictions. "IT'S REALLY NOT FAIR when you think about it," he complained. "My principal objection is that this is dumped on my head and my customers. "Why should the 100 people in my development have to pay for it?" he asked, referring to the theoretical cost of underwriting the housing set-asides. "I have a choice; either I pass it (the cost) on, or swallow it." He called the possible option of building lower cost housing outside a new development "a step in the right direction,” but argued that the cost of building unplanned, lower-priced houses should be borne by citizens throughout the state and not jus) people who buy higher-priced homes in yjfe main development. f

Welfare Theft Charged

of various priced housing^- ^Ti m a 60*acre former lapdfttl has l’s bayfYont. ThaMSroposal, grai

Lottery Money Goes Many Ways

The question most frequently asked about state government is, "where does the lottery money Ro?" According to Assemblyman (luy F Muziani. R 1st District, Cape May Cumberland counties, the quick answer is: to schools, colleges, I veterans’ homes' prisons The constitutional amendment approved by the voters in 1969 j^ovided that the money derived by the state from the sale of lottery tickets would be dedicated strictly to education and state institutions. Muziani said the many programs funded by the state lottery include the following: Operation of state correctional institutions, 79.2 million; operation of the state’s psychiatric hospitals, 41.5 million; local school building aid. 37.2 million; aid to county colleges, 30 million School building debt service aid, 13 8 million; high technology programs in higher education. 10

million; aid to independent colleges. 5.8 million; opera tion of homes for disabled veterans, 4.8 million. During the fiscal year that began July 1 any ends June 30, 1984, Muziani stated a grand total of $291 million is to be spent on these purposes, all of which*, comes from the sale of lottery tickets. The other major source of legal gambling revenue in New Jersey is the Atlantic City casinos. The casino revenue fund, which will amount to $177 million this fiscal year, is derived from an 8 percent tax on all casino gambling receipts, and is constitutionally dedicated to pro-

grams benefiting senior citizens and disabled persons. Muziani also listed these: Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and (Disabled (PAADt, which subsidizes prescription drugs at an average $10 per prescription, 26.2 million; Lifeline Credit, which pays senior and disabled homeowners and renters alike $200 a year each as a credit against their utility bills, 69.1 million ; Homestead rebates and local property tax exemptions for senior and disabled citizens, 50.9 million; Home health care as an alternative to institutionalization, 10.5 million; Boarding Home Rental Assistance Program and housing support services.' 1.3 million. These two legalized gambling revenue funds, dedicated to their special purposes, add up to about $468 million. While many New Jerseyans are greatly concerned about where this money goes, Muziani said, It is quite clear that it is spent for good causes.

-^TCWN BANK — Margaret McDonough » been indicted by a Cape May County grand jury for allegedly collecting more than $14,000 in welfare benefits for which

she was ineligible.

Mrs. McDonough allegedly was employed using her 15-year-old daughter’s Social Security number at North Cape May market. ♦ Federal officials somehow became suspicious and, after they checked with the market, the market inquired of Cape May County’s Welfare Department. AN INVESTIGATION by RsTraud unit found that Mhs. McDonough was employed and receiving benefits concurrently.

The unit reported that Mrs. McDonough earned gross pay of $30,918 from Oct. 7, 1979, to March 3, 1983, and $183 a week in unemployment compensation since March

3.

For the same period, the fraud unit reported, Mrs. McDonough received assistance of $7,015, food stamps worth $5,466, and Medicaid valued at $1,729. "Theft by deception," the charge under which Mrs. McDonough has been indicted, carries a maximum penalty of three to five years in jail and a fine of up to $7,500, according to the county Prosecutor's office. Date for her trial has not been set.

NEW TECHS - Dr. Daniel Wilner, chief of Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital Department of

Radiology, congratulations the 1983 graduates of the hospital's School of Radiologic Technology.

From left, Louis Peek of Ocean View, Stacey O’Connor of Brigantine, Wilner and Frank Lee of Villas.