The Law: Could Longtime, Low-Income Community Residents Be Forced to Leave Their Homes?

For Rosemary Roberts, 77, Mount Holly Gardens in southern New Jersey has been far more than a place to live. The 329-home community has been a place where neighbors look out for one another. And she has no plans of walking away from the home she’s owned for 27 years.

But Mount Holly township wants Roberts and her neighbors to leave the low-to-moderate-income community. The township wants to encourage new housing, which, for the most part, won’t be affordable to current residents.

Roberts owns two houses, which she combined into one four-bedroom home. The township offered her $65,000 for her properties, but even in the current real estate market, that’s just not enough, she said, and she’s staying put. “I spend every day depressed and worried about what will happen to me in this home, which is the home I love,” she said.

Last May, AARP attorneys joined a Princeton law firm and South Jersey Legal Services and filed a federal lawsuit challenging the redevelopment plan, which they said discriminated against racial minorities and older people. The suit follows a state court decision that concluded the Gardens was an “area in need of redevelopment.” The state court did not address any of the residents’ civil rights claims, and the federal court has rejected efforts to dismiss the case.

“The harm to older residents is particularly harsh. They depend on their neighbors, and it’s traumatic to move,” said Susan Ann Silverstein, senior attorney for AARP Foundation Litigation. “You look at this community and wonder why a way for current residents to remain wasn’t part of the plan.” She added: “Even if Mount Holly followed New Jersey redevelopment law, the federal Fair Housing Act requires it to come up with a redevelopment plan in the least discriminatory way.”

Township attorneys defend its redevelopment interests and cite its offer to relocate affected families.

About 100 homes remain occupied in Mount Holly Gardens, built in the 1950s near Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base. “Most of the older homeowners have paid off their mortgages,” said Silverstein, “and even with the extra relocation benefits the township is providing, what they receive won’t be enough for a new house on their fixed incomes.”

What it means to you: If your neighborhood faces possible redevelopment, get involved. Attend public meetings; question local authorities. If you suspect discrimination, contact any fair housing organization.

Emily Sachar is a journalist and author based in Brooklyn, N.Y.