Howell Homeless Encampment Land To Be Auctioned Off

HOWELL, NJ — When Lakewood's Tent City homeless encampment was bulldozed in the summer of 2014, it made state headlines. Protesters stood at the edge of the Cedar Bridge Avenue site, begging for more to be done to help those who had nowhere else to turn.

It was an ugly ending to what had been an ugly conflict, one that had ended up in court, with Lakewood agreeing to pay for transitional housing or writing checks to some of those affected. In the end, however, many found themselves still homeless and still fighting to survive.

Howell Township officials promise there won't be a repeat.

The Township Council approved a resolution Tuesday night for the public sale of land it owns at 5998 Route 9 in the township. The land currently is home to Destiny's Bridge Transitional Encampment, which supplies basic needs for the homeless in the area. It is the only government-approved homeless camp in the northeastern United States, according to Steve Brigham, a longtime advocate for the area's homeless.

"The community of Howell has been wonderful in their kindhearted support of our little community from the beginning, and all of us here are very thankful," Brigham said.

Brigham, who had urged people to attend Tuesday night's council meeting, posted on Facebook saying the Destiny's Bridge group had realized the land sale was a possibility.

"We understand the increasing demand for Howell land, and we knew that there was a great interest in the property due to the many cars that would drive in, and look around. We were hoping we would have a bit more time to showcase our community living system to the American public, and promote it as part of the solution in helping the homeless nationwide," he wrote. "However, time is not on our side."

The public sale is set for 11 a.m. May 21 in the main meeting room at the Howell Township Municipal Building on Route 9, with a minimum bid of $1,355,000.

Howell Township Manager Brian Geoghegan said the sale of the property was discussed last summer by the Township Council, but with the sudden resignation last year in August of then Township Attorney McKenna Torcivia followed in September by that of then-Manager Jeffrey Mayfield, the plan was shelved temporarily.

Once the township's staffing issues were resolved, the township had the property appraised so they could set an appropriate sale price, Geoghegan said.

"Another consideration was that anticipating a sale sometime during summer months would make moving the Transitional Homeless Camp much easier than forcing a move during the winter months," he said.

"This was always intended to be a temporary solution," Geoghegan said. Councilman Bob Walsh, commenting on a post in the Howell Happenings NJ Facebook group, said township officials had told Brigham and Destiny's Bridge the same, that the encampment on the Howell-owned site was not going to be permanent.

But Geoghegan said the township "remains committed to finding a solution that is a fit for everyone."

"In fact, included in last night’s resolution authorizing the property to go to auction, was the requirement that any purchaser assist in relocating the homeless camp," he said.

The language of the resolution, as posted on the township's website, however, puts the onus completely on the purchaser of the property: "The property is currently occupied by an unknown number of homeless individuals. The successful bidder agrees that all responsibility for relocating those individuals from this property shall be the sole responsibility of the successful bidder, and the Township shall not be required to assist, financially or otherwise, in the relocation of the individuals on this property."

Geoghegan said township officials will be meeting with Brigham and other Destiny's Bridge representatives to discuss future options.

The goal of Destiny's Bridge has been to create a transitional housing situation that consists of more permanent structures that help those who are homeless feel more safety and privacy while they work to a more permanent housing solution.

Brigham, in his Facebook post, said the problem is there are no housing options for many of those who currently live at the camp.

"Yesterday, as I put up a tent for a resident and her two children (whose old tent had gone down in the storm), I wondered to myself where will this poor family go?" Brigham wrote. "I remember the day I picked them up outside of a local motel a year and a half ago. This woman had spent her last dollar on the motel. She was desperate, and pleading for help. She had exhausted her options, and I was her last hope. Now, a year and a half later, she gets up at 6 in the morning, walks a quarter mile to the bus stop, works all day and comes home late. She works hard, but there is not a place for her and her family to live within her income bracket."

"Less expensive housing can be created, but the local governments have methodically, and systematically set up roadblocks to deter them," Brigham wrote. "Until these obstacles are removed, we will continue to see hard-working Americans deprived of their basic American right to access to housing at their income level."

Affordable housing has been a hot topic throughout the state, as towns have battled the Council On Affordable Housing for years. Last year, some towns in the state reached settlements with COAH and the Fair Share Housing Council, an organization that has been fighting to enforce affordable housing mandates, following a ruling by the state Supreme Court that said towns have a legal requirement to provide for affordable housing.

Howell, however, is among towns that are waiting for the courts to adjudicate how many units they have to provide. Princeton and West Windsor were involved in a lawsuit decided in early March by state Judge Mary C. Jacobson that is seen as likely to influence coming decisions for other towns.

Geoghegan did not have any indication of when Howell's suit would be resolved.

"Based on the length of time it has taken so far, there is no reasonable estimate as to when we may have a final decision," he said.

Photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff