South Toms River – Mayor Greg Handshy announced he would not sign a settlement to an affordable housing lawsuit that will build 390 high density housing units behind the Wawa. The Mayor’s refusal to sign the agreement will delay, if not stop the controversial development project. 

The agreement involves permitting M&T developers to build 360 market rate housing units. The boro will give away land for 30 additional affordable housing units at no cost to the developer. A special tax break, called a PILOT, means the town would not collect property or school taxes on the new development.

The majority Republican Council voted for the agreement at their August 24th meeting. The mayor, a Democrat who has long opposed the development, has refused to sign.

Handshy said. “I won’t sign a deal this bad for the boro. The developer gets the right to build 360 high density units we don’t want, and the boro bears the costs of the affordable units.  I won’t sign an agreement that says that the developer gets a tax break, so they won’t have to pay property taxes like the rest of us for the next 30 years.

“If Democrats had a majority on the council, this deal never would have passed,” says Council candidate Jameal Calhoun.”

Democratic l candidate for Council George Rutzler added. “The deal gives the developer a 30-year tax break. The council can’t even give us an estimate on how much it will cost residents, because they don’t even know.”

After raising concerns about this proposed deal, Handshy says he received pushback from the town’s affordable housing lawyer “She threatened to go to court and legally compel me to sign what is clearly a terrible deal. I don’t care. I will not be bullied into breaking my promise to our residents. I will not turn South Toms River into a giveaway for developers who want to build hundreds of rental apartments without paying their fair share of taxes.”

Handshy pointed out “If you look at the data, our whole town is affordable housing, and I believe we could have done better in negotiating our affordable housing obligations. This is a bad deal.”