431 New Jersey municipalities meet key deadline, commit to affordable housing development

More than three-quarters of New Jersey’s municipalities met a key affordable housing deadline in January, according to housing advocates in the Garden State.

New Jersey’s Fair Share Housing Center, a nonprofit that negotiates affordable housing plans with municipalities, said Monday that officials for 431 of the state’s 564 cities and towns filed resolutions committing to develop affordable housing over the next decade. Local officials had until Jan. 31 to either commit to a number of low-priced homes assigned to them in October by the state, or propose a new number that will be reviewed by the state over the next few months.

Adam Gordon, director of the nonprofit, said he’s “pleasantly surprised” by the number of towns that met the deadline and are now participating in the affordable housing planning process.

Gordon said more towns are participating than at any point in the 50 years since court rulings established the Mount Laurel doctrine, which requires every town in the state to contribute their “fair share” of affordable housing. He noted that, during the last 10-year round of state-mandated affordable housing development, only 315 of the state’s municipalities participated in the affordable housing process, and in some cases entered into protracted legal fights and costly litigation over how much housing they were required to build.

“I didn't really think we'd see an increase of this magnitude,” Gordon said.

Gordon said that the majority of towns that passed resolutions in the past month committed to the housing numbers assigned by the state Department of Community Affairs. A Gothamist review of resolutions published online show that at least 121 of those towns have asked the state to reduce the overall number of homes they’re required to build, citing what they say are overcalculations of developable land by the Department of Community Affairs.

Notably, all 27 towns involved in a lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s affordable housing lawsuit met the deadline, though many were among the towns seeking to have their numbers reduced by the state. Officials from the Borough of Montvale, who are leading the coalition of towns suing the state, are seeking to have their obligation lowered from 348 to 178 affordable units.

Meeting the Jan. 31 deadline was the first major test of whether the state can implement a new affordable housing process laid out in a law passed by the legislature last year. Under the framework, the state aims to construct about 84,000 new homes priced for low- and middle-income people and rehabilitate another 65,000 affordable units over the next 10 years. On average, towns are being required to build about 150 new homes, though some have been assigned up to 1,000.

The next test will be to resolve disputes brought by more than 100 towns seeking to revise their housing obligations to lower numbers. As part of the resolutions passed last month, towns agreed to participate in the new Affordable Housing Dispute Program, which is made up of a panel of retired state judges. Those disputes must be resolved by March 31, according to the guidelines.

This month, any residents or housing advocates who wish to challenge a specific town’s commitment to affordable housing development can also file their objections with the dispute panel.

Under state law, towns that did not meet the deadline could open themselves up to lawsuits from builders or developers that could force them to develop affordable housing in their town.