Wealthy NJ town rejects plan to convert office into housing for homeless families

Officials in Emerson, New Jersey, have rejected a proposal from a nonprofit to open a new facility in their town to house homeless families.

At its Feb. 20 meeting, the Emerson Land Use Board shot down Family Promise’s request to rezone commercial property it had contracted to purchase last year. The organization, which specializes in providing transitional housing for working families facing homelessness, hoped to convert a soon-to-be-closed office building into a hybrid facility containing Family Promise’s offices and eight apartments.

But in a 6-1 vote, the board voted against zoning changes that would allow the group to continue pursuing the project. In a yet-to-be published resolution shared with Gothamist, the board cited concerns over traffic and public safety associated with the site. During a series of hearings over the past year, some residents had spoken against the project, voicing concerns that opening a residence for homeless people would result in more crime.

Emerson, which refers to itself as “the Family Town” on its website, has a median household income of more than $153,000, about 1.5 times higher than the town average in New Jersey, according to census data. The town sits in Bergen County, which has the highest average home value in the state, at more than $693,000. Emerson’s average home value is about $627,000.

Kate Duggan, CEO of Family Promise of Bergen County, told Gothamist that the organization’s board of directors voted unanimously against pursuing an appeal. Duggan said that after the “outwardly hostile” response from the community, Family Promise would pursue the endeavor in another town.

“It got ugly,” she said, noting that residents “felt that we were trying to sneak unsavory people into their neighborhood.”

Homelessness has been on the rise across New Jersey. In 2024, the number of New Jerseyans experiencing homelessness rose to 12,680, according to a report by the nonprofit Monarch Housing Associates, a 24% jump from the previous year.

In response, some New Jersey communities have taken a more hardline approach to addressing homelessness. At least four towns have passed measures to jail or fine homeless people thousands of dollars for sleeping in public, in the wake of a 2024 Supreme Court decision upholding a similar law in Oregon.

Officials from a fifth New Jersey municipality, Summit, are set to vote next week on a public sleeping ban. In Toms River, Mayor Daniel Rodrick is calling for a pop-up restaurant set up by New Jersey-born rocker Jon Bon Jovi and his wife that feeds homeless people for free to be shut down.

Emerson Mayor Danielle DiPaola and the six members of the town council, who are all Republicans, did not respond to requests for comment on the Land Use Board’s decision.

Family Promise is a national nonprofit that has operated since 1988. To qualify for transitional housing, a member of a family must be working and the family cannot already be receiving federal assistance like welfare, Duggan said. She added that as part of the program, families have access to job training and financial education.

Duggan said Family Promise of Bergen County spent years trying to find a location that would suit the organization's needs. Currently, the group works out of a church basement in Ridgewood and pays to house families in hotels. She said their plan with the proposed facility was  to make it a welcoming place for people facing a housing crisis so they did not think, “I have hit rock bottom.”

“We wanted to create a place that oozed with hope,” said Duggan.

Germaine Ortiz, a Bergen County commissioner and Emerson resident, spoke in support of the project at one of the hearings. She told the land-use board that the families fall into a “common gap” of people earning too much to qualify for government aid but still struggling to afford housing in one of the country's most expensive regions.

“These are our neighbors, they’re our coworkers, and in different circumstances, they could be any of us,” she said.

But comments from supporters like Ortiz were outnumbered by detractors at the meetings. While some residents said they supported Family Promise’s mission, they remarked that bringing homeless people into Emerson would drive up crime and would not contribute to the tax base in a town where annual property taxes eclipse $13,000.

One resident suggested that as an alternative to the shelter, Emerson should hold a clothing-and-food drive to help homeless people.

Molly Abrahamsen, a longtime Emerson resident, told the board that the project  would “turn our family town into a transient town.”

”We want a community. We want people who are going to pay taxes, [who] we're gonna raise our kids with," she said. "We don't want people who are coming in and out."

In its resolution, the board cited testimony from Emerson Police Sgt. Daniel Kalyoussef, who said the property was located on a busy road where he would be concerned about children's safety. He added that he had observed many people make illegal left turns into the parking lot where the facility was planned.

Duggan said she found those comments “disingenuous," arguing that anyone in the building would face the same issue and that they insinuated parents at the site would not be able to control their children. She said the idea that a clothing-and-food drive would be a suitable alternative to the facility was offensive.

“ This is NIMBY, very, very clearly NIMBY,” she said, using the acronym for "not-in-my-backyard" stances toward new development.

In the wake of the board’s decision, Duggan said her group was exploring property in other parts of Bergen County. She said the organization will not recoup more than $200,000 it paid in carrying costs, or fees for holding the Emerson property, to the owner.