The Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) was created by the New Jersey Legislature in response to the Fair Housing Act (FHA) of 1985 and a series of New Jersey Supreme Court rulings that are known as the Mount Laurel doctrine. At the time COAH was responsible for ensuring that all 566 New Jersey municipalities provided their fair share of low and moderate income housing as mandated by the FHA and the Mount Laurel doctrine.
Subsequently, after numerous breakdowns in the system, in March 2015, the New Jersey Supreme Court divested COAH of jurisdiction of municipal housing plans and allowed towns to petition the lower courts for approval of their housing plans.
This system, which gave the upper hand to municipalities, sat in place for nearly a decade.
All this bliss came to a screeching halt in March 2024 when Democrat Governor Phil Murphy signed affordable housing legislation that was supported by Avi Schnall.
The new law, which was heralded by the governor as "the most significant housing legislation in four decades," put the fair share housing situation "on steroids" by taking away jurisdiction from the courts and moving it to the state's Department of Community Affairs.
Essentially, instead of towns calculating what they believe is their fair share of affordable housing, now the state will be the ones making and enforcing these determinations. (And... you guessed it, the State's calculations are way higher than the town's calculations...)
So... the State made their calculations and directed the municipalities to either accept these "non-binding" quotas by today, Friday, or counterpropose a different number of homes.
At least 27 municipalities across the statewide have filed lawsuits to try to fight the state’s ambitious affordable housing plan.
However, earlier this week these efforts were dealt a massive blow when the New Jersey Appellate Division rejected the towns’ request to hear an emergency appeal of their bid to halt the affordable housing law.
Subsequently, many of these towns have either scrambled to settle and agree to the state's mandates or proclaimed that they will continue to litigate in court even after the state's deadline of this Friday.
Toms River Township is one example of how to fight. On Wednesday night the Council unanimously rejected the state's 670-unit affordable housing requirement, instead adopting a resolution claiming Toms River owes at most 114 new units, and possibly none at all.
Mayor Daniel Rodrick said the lower number specified by the township was determined after Toms River realized that the state was counting homes that had been rehabbed after Superstorm Sandy as new construction. A recalculation produced by the township with planner Rick Hunt came up with the much lower number, Rodrick said.
The town plans to send their lawyers to fight their battle.
Not the same story for Lakewood and Jackson.
The Lakewood Township Committee held a special meeting on Friday morning to heroically accept and commit to the state's calculations of rehabilitating 878 existing units. At the meeting, Committee member Albert Akerman explained that the Township should receive credit for "over-rehabilitating" 599 units over the past few years, leaving a balance of 279 units. Mayor Ray Coles conceded to this fact but added that "of course the Township is always looking to go above and beyond when it comes to building and rehabilitating homes and we look forward to doing so despite us not being obligated."
Earlier this week Jackson Township’s governing similary accepted the state's calculations of their fair share quota.
Towns have until June 30, 2025 to produce plans for providing the housing.
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3 comments:
Jackson developers are very happy with the high affordable housing requirements. Politically connected people get into the affordable housing first.
And politically connected people get to choose property owners to build new housing on, and contractors to build the overpriced housing.
Keep that BS over in Lakewood and Jackson. Don’t bring your drama and corrupt Zoning and Development issues to Toms River. Already Whitesville Rd is starting to look like Cross Street. Don't follow the 2 biggest circus clowns and losers Mayor Ray Coles and Mayor Michael Reina. They do nothing for their own towns and they just don’t care either. Better get on it Mayor Daniel Rodrick a simple no thank you, not in my town is the right thing to do. Just remember you blink and you fall behind the 8 ball. Then we will have 3 circus clowns running our neighboring towns.
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