New Jersey appeals court denies 26 towns' request to halt affordable housing law

A New Jersey appeals court on Friday rejected a bid by a coalition of towns to halt the Garden State’s new affordable housing law from taking effect.

A two-judge court panel reaffirmed a state Superior Court judge’s denial of the request by 26 towns to put the brakes on the new law, which sets forth new affordable housing targets for the local governments.

Judge Morris Smith wrote that the towns failed to establish “irreparable harm by clear and convincing evidence.” Smith wrote, “We discern no abuse of discretion in the trial court's denial” of the towns’ request to stay the law.

Although the stay the towns sought was denied, their lawsuit challenging the new law continues. The next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 31 on a motion filed by state Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office, the chief defendant in the lawsuit, to have the case dismissed.

"We are thrilled that every court to consider this challenge has correctly held it should not succeed and that New Jersey’s landmark affordable housing law should not be delayed," Platkin's spokesperson Michael Symons wrote in a statement. "We look forward to continuing to defend this important legislation.”

The 26 towns filed the emergency appeal on Jan. 6, just days after the lower court’s decision.

Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali, who is leading the coalition of 26 towns, called the appeals court ruling a “poor decision.” He said the towns are considering an appeal to the state Supreme Court.

“Our coalition will be evaluating an appeal to our state's highest court, which is the body that ultimately has to fix its decisions of the past,” Ghassali said.

In the appeal, the towns’ attorneys pointed to a key deadline at the end of January when all New Jersey municipalities must either accept the number of affordable homes the state is requiring them to build in their communities, or present an alternative number they reasonably believe they can develop over the next decade.

In the towns' appeal notice, attorney Michael Collins wrote that the Jan. 31 deadline requires towns to comply with a process riddled with “constitutional infirmities” or risk losing their zoning power and immunity to being sued by builders who could force them to develop housing against their will.

In his Jan. 6 decision, Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy wrote that the wider public interest in constructing new affordable housing “overwhelmingly” outweighed the towns’ arguments that they’ve been overburdened by the state’s mandates.

The municipalities claim the state is unfairly requiring them to build more housing without accounting for how much development they can truly support given their lack of available land and the increased burden on infrastructure like roads and sewers.

Adam Gordon, director of Fair Share Housing Center, a housing nonprofit that has intervened in the lawsuit, called the appeals court decision “encouraging news.”

"This sweeping rejection of attempts to delay the rollout of New Jersey's crucial new affordable housing law is encouraging news," Gordon said.

This story was updated with a comment from Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office.