This photo of 16 S. Tallahassee Ave. posted on Zillow.com. House is fully renovated and in excellent condition. It was purchased by Hansen House, LLC in 2019 for $395,000. Zillow estimates the property is now worth $713,000. Hansen is seeking a zoning variance allowing it to be used as a Drug/Alcohol Rehab “Class F Boarding House”.
This Tuesday, July 27, at 10:00 AM, lawyers and “experts” for a “Hansen House LLC” will again appear before the Atlantic City Zoning Board. It wants a “use variance” permitting it to use a one family home at 16 South Tallahassee Avenue as a “Class F Boarding License” (Cooperative Sober Living Residence). The variance is needed because Atlantic City’s zoning law only permits one family homes in that area. “Hansen House LLC” is a subsidiary of “Hansen Foundation, Inc.” a “charity” run by the Hansen family.
The area is known as the “Lower Chelsea” section of Atlantic City. It is next to the “North Beach” section of Ventnor. Both areas are clean, low-crime areas of well-kept, middle class homes. Area residents have repeatedly objected. They claim group homes for recovering drug and alcohol addicts negatively affect neighbors in several ways:
- They lower property values and make it difficult for neighbors to sell their properties.
- They often increase crimes because residents are not supervised, and some are not “recovering”. There is much disagreement as to how many residents in these programs return to addiction. The figures seem to range from as low as 50% to as high as 92%. Some continue to rob and steal to pay for their addiction. Neighbors with small children and who leave their homes to work during the day are fearful of break-ins and for their personal safety.
- Atlantic City has easy access to casinos, Stockton University, and open drug trafficking. An effective rehab program would keep recovering addicts further away from such temptations.
- Social service “charities” often aggressively seek to fill their beds with residents sponsored by government programs meet expenses and stay in operation. Some often take in convicted criminals who are offered a choice between jail, prison, or a drug or alcohol rehab residence. Jennifer Hansen maintains that this is NOT done by Hansen House.
- Many “Class F Boarding License” homes aggressively seek residents from out of town and out of state to fill their beds. Then they have those “residents” register to vote to falsely claim these “charities” are serving local residents.
- The Hansen “charity” website does have a page inviting participants to apply for Section 8, Taxpayer Funded housing subsidies.
- Because the boarding homes are run for “charitable purposes”, they do NOT pay real estate taxes.
- The area is already saturated with “Class F Boarding License Homes”. Ventnor City Commissioner Lance Landgraf reported last year that there were already 24 to 25 in his town. Three are lined up right next to each other on Austin Avenue! Locals believe there are already 5 or 6 in Atlantic City.
Are there any other facts that should be brought to the attention of the Zoning Board of Adjustment? If so, please let us know in the comments section. Or contact us at info@libertyandprosperity.com.
The Hansen “charity” has the burden of proving these two facts: #1. This house “cannot be reasonably adapted to a permitted use in the R-2 (single family) zoning district. A careful look at the photos post on Zillow and the current high market value show this property can easily be used or sold as a single family house! #2. Granting the variance “will not substantially impair the intent and purpose of the zone plan”.
You can attend and present evidence at the meeting by Zoom. To get the link and log-in info, please click The Official Website of City of Atlantic City, NJ – Home (acnj.gov). Then Click the “Zoning Board of Adjustment Meeting” Link for July 27, 2021.
CORRECTION: I just removed a portion of the post which implied that the Hansen Foundation had been used as a vehicle to financially benefit the Hansen family through tax free transactions and transfers of wealth from parent to child. That was based on an incorrect interpretation of Schedule J of the 2019 Form 990 Tax Return of Hansen Foundation, Inc. shown below. On July 26, 2021, Jennifer Hansen advised me that neither she nor her father received any money from any charity “related” to the Hansen Foundation. She said that the “related” organization was Ole Hansen & Sons, Inc., her family’s business. Jennifer Hansen was listed as “Director of Real Estate Development” on the website for that business.
10. The Hansen Foundation website openly admits that “Advocacy” is one of its main missions. It states that this “advocacy” is using politically connected lawyers change zoning rules in middle class neighborhoods. It also admits lobbying local and county officials as well as Governor Murphy and State Legislators to adopt new state laws to override local zoning laws and to get more funding.
11. In 2019, the Hansen Foundation paid $139,430 in legal fees to the law firm of Nehmad Perillo and Davis, PC in Somers Point, NJ. Keith Davis, the Chairman of the Atlantic County Republican Party is a partner in that law firm. The 2019 tax return is the most recent tax return of Hansen Foundation Inc. available to the public.
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