In 1994, Weehawken had reached the crisis point with a few of its rooming houses, especially one located on 46th Street.
“At one point, we had 130 police calls to that one rooming house in one year,” Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner said. “We had a whole assortment of problems there, like public nuisance, public urination, drug sales and use out in the open. The neighbors were all complaining and parents were afraid to send their kids home from school in that direction. That rooming house was really affecting the quality of life in the town.”
Added Turner, “The people had enough and things were out of control. We really had to do something.” At that time, all rooming house licensing was handled by the state Department of Public Housing, so Weehawken had no jurisdiction to enforce any penalties on the rooming houses. It was basically a rubber stamp procedure when it came time for rooming house owners and operators to have their licenses renewed.
However, the township discovered that legislation was in place that allowed the townships to handle the renewal process. Weehawken was one of the first New Jersey communities to take over the responsibility and handle the licensing on their own.
“We were able to get clarification of the state regulations and handle it ourselves,” Turner said. “We started our own hearing process where our residents could come and express their concerns. The state still gives the ultimate control, but we were able to have something to give us some leverage”
At that time, the township became so frustrated with the problems at the rooming house on 46th Street that they even placed a patrol car in front of the house, but that did not deter the criminal activity.
Finally, when it was learned that three occupants allegedly were running an illegal telephone credit card scam out of the house, the township voted to shut the rooming house down. A battle ensued in local, state and federal courts between the township and the owner of the rooming house. It went on for almost three years.
“We won some battles, but eventually, we were not permitted to shut it down,” Turner said. “However, because of what happened, the landlord apparently got the message and cleaned up the rooming house.”
Also, as part of starting its own licensing process, the township was able to locate residents who were operating as rooming houses illegally and shut them down.
Looked at renewals
Last week, the township council reviewed the applications for the four operating rooming house licenses that currently exist in the township, including that same once-beleaguered site on 46th Street.
“We renewed the licenses of three of the houses, on 50th, 48th and 46th Streets,” Turner said. “The last one, on 49th Street, was held over until police were able to do inspections. We had more problems there at 49th Street than what was expected. We had nine police calls in the past year. The owner [Hans Kaspersetz] has agreed to work with the police on the matter and we will then consider renewal of the license then.”
Officials said six of the incidents were burglaries, so police officials were concerned about having such a high volume of the similar crime taking place at the same site.
The rooming house license review for Kaspersetz’s property will be held March 14.
However, things have changed so much in the township that the concern is now for a residence with nine calls, not 130.
And the one that had the rash of incidents four years ago didn’t have a single call two years ago and just one minor incident in 2000.
Turner went as far as to praise the owner of that house, Om Tuli, for his efforts in cleaning up his property.
“We’ve developed a working understanding over the years,” Turner said. “It’s a total dramatic change. They screen tenants now and there have been zero quality of life complaints at that site for two years. They’re living up to the agreement that we made after the court process. It was a heated court battle for a while, but he’s lived up to his obligations and commitments. At one point, the relationship was very confrontational. But he realized we weren’t trying to single him out. We reached an accord with them and it’s now a respectable rooming house. The whole neighborhood has changed because of it.”
Added Turner, “It took a lot of time and it was a long process, but it’s worked. There is always the need in the town for decent rooming houses and that’s what we wanted to insure. The problems are virtually non-existent.”