Committee Hasn't Reached Conclusion on Housing Case

The Township Committee still hasn't come to a conclusion on how it may respond to Livingston's officials decision to settle on an affordable housing case.

The Livingston Township Council voted last month to accept a settlement with TMB Partners to allow a scaled back version of a plan to construct housing on the Short Hills border. The site is the current home of Tutor Time at the corner of White Oak Ridge Road and South Orange Avenue.

The Millburn committee met in executive session on Tuesday night after it's regular public session to discuss its options, but Mayor Thomas McDermott said the committee did not reach any conclusions and is waiting for answers to its questions.

"We're hoping for more information next week and then we'll come to a decision," he said. "We're not sure we have many options... (The decision will) probably be within the next two weeks."

The court hearing at which the judge will review the settlement deal and potentially accept it is scheduled for Sept. 22, which is the day after the next Township Committee meeting. McDermott said it's still unclear if Millburn's attorneys will have any participation opportunity during that court hearing.

The agreement between the Livingston council and TMB would allow the developer to construct 62 multi-family units, including 12 units for rent to low and moderate income households,. The original plans called for the building height to be 75 feet, but it will be limited to 55 under the new settlement.

During Tuesday's public session McDermott told residents in attendance Millburn officials still have not dropped out of the litigation. At the last committee meeting in August, McDermott disputed a claim by Livingston's mayor Millburn officials would agree to the settlement.

Fred Polakoff, a Livingston-Short Hills Coalition member, again asked the committee to reject the settlement Livingston officials approved. He cited court documents where a judge in the case said he was not concerned about neighbors being upset about a big building.

He also cited how the TMB proposal has a separate building for the low and moderate income housing, saying it was not fair, just or right for there to be a separate building.

"Rather than set precedent, the Township of Millburn would be better to lose at this level and use its experts and rational arguments to counter this decision," he said. "At the very least Millburn would avoid establishing a precedent for urban housing without and within its environs."

Rosalie Rubin, also of the coalition, said the settlement is a case of Livingston officials dumping their problems in Millburn's backyard. She hoped the committee would consider an alternative.