Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) has asked the Navy to reconsider its recent controversial housing proposal for Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County that would expand the rental of public private venture (PPV) housing at the base to non-Department of Defense-affiliated civilians.

     “The proposal is fraught with security concerns, as well serious challenges to local systems, and it is in fact deja vu all over again—despite the fact that security at our bases has proven to be even more challenging in the last several years,” said Smith in a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Navy Dennis McGinn. “Given that our nation has been exposed to numerous national security threats in the homeland since the original signing of the PPV lease—including the planned attack by the Fort Dix Five—it is evident that this type of housing venture is no longer practical and in fact a security risk here at Earle. Furthermore, recent terrorist activity and bombings just miles from NWS Earle demonstrate that security is indeed of paramount concern in this suburban and rural area.”

     Click here to read Smith’s letter to the Navy.

     Smith, who represents Earle and the surrounding communities, helped lead the fight to successfully persuade the Navy to abandon an earlier proposal to open 300 units at Laurelwood Housing to unscreened and unaffiliated civilians. After a four year confrontation with the local community that was deeply divisive, the Navy reached a settlement with the developer to purchase and demolish the surplus housing in 2010.

     In requesting a meeting with the Navy, Smith said the current agreement, which seeks to opens dozens of housing units to non-affiliated renters, raises nearly identical questions of how rental applicants will be—or even can be—properly vetted so that the munitions station—as well as its neighboring communities—are protected and secure.  Only 81 percent of these homes have been occupied in the last six years. As a result, housing partner Northeast Housing LLC, a wholly-owned corporation of Balfour Beatty Communities (BBC), has recently ramped up efforts to attract non-affiliated civilians to occupy the remaining approximately 20 housing units. 

     “I urge you and your team to revisit the plan to open the housing on the base and work with me and other local officials with the hope of finding an alternative solution that enables the Navy to meet its obligation to BBC without threatening the safety of the base, our military personnel and the surrounding area,” Smith wrote to McGinn. “Additionally, I hope you will partner with me to determine why more affiliated personnel are not taking advantage of the vacant homes on the installation, and work to make the base housing and installation environment more competitive.”

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