Michael Nochimson
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Question 1: Verona, like most other New Jersey towns, now faces the prospect of more development for affordable housing. What steps would you take to mitigate the potential impact of development in Verona?
Verona, like most other New Jersey towns, now faces the prospect of more development for affordable housing. What steps would you take to mitigate the potential impact of development in Verona?
Like many communities across New Jersey, we are confronted with the State mandate for new units of affordable housing and its impact on our infrastructure, schools, and traffic. As Deputy Mayor and Councilman, I am very focused on maintaining the character and integrity of our town. I have proactively worked to reduce the potential damaging effects of overdevelopment created by this state requirement of 238 affordable housing units. My daily focus is to minimize the cost to the Verona taxpayer while preserving our great quality of life.
This issue is a great example of where real, identifiable leadership, vision, and action can positively impact the outcome of a situation. To highlight my positive impact on our town and its future, over the last year, I played a critical role in facilitating the town’s purchase of the Cameco property. By purchasing and developing this property, we have satisfied nearly 70% of the state mandate. If we had not taken this strategic action and the state mandate was satisfied by private developers, Verona could possibly have seen an additional 1,000 housing units constructed in our charming community. With the Cameco development and other initiatives underway I am thrilled to report that Verona has nearly satisfied the state mandate and the second round of the affordable housing lawsuit. Through creativity, consensus building and strong community relationship, I have helped significantly reduce future congestion and demand on our services – especially, our schools and emergency services (fire, police and ambulatory).
That said, I believe it is critically important that the Town Council does everything we can to protect against overdevelopment, crowding of our schools, and increased traffic. Through a strong vision, smart development, and a thorough understanding of business and government, we can satisfy state imposed requirements on our community, without putting the character of our town or quality of services we provide to our residents at risk.
Well said.