NJ lawmakers pass bill to get more affordable housing near transit, grocery stores

New Jersey lawmakers have advanced legislation they say would lead towns to take a more creative approach to solving the state’s shortage of low-income housing.

The state Assembly voted 51-28 on Monday to pass the latest version of a bill that makes sweeping changes to how New Jersey assigns and enforces towns’ requirements to build affordable housing. It includes a number of incentives to put lower-priced dwellings near key resources like grocery stores and transit centers.

“This is the first affordable housing legislation that would really incentivize communities to build housing where people are,” said Zoe Baldwin, New Jersey director for the Regional Plan Association, a non-profit civic organization for the Tri-state area.

The bill must next go to the state Senate, where proponents say they believe it can reach a vote by the end of the month — despite opposition from some town leaders and Republican lawmakers who worry it’ll lead to onerous housing requirements that strain local budgets and increase taxes on the middle class. Gov. Phil Murphy has indicated in his support for overhauling the state’s affordable housing system as well.

The bill formally dissolves the defunct Council on Affordable Housing that previously assigned towns affordable housing obligations in “rounds” — with the next such round starting in 2025. The council hasn’t met for years, falling apart amid political battles during Chris Christie’s governorship. Since then, towns have hashed out housing obligations through the courts, a process municipal leaders say is slow, cumbersome and costly.

The bill instead would have the Department of Community Affairs calculate affordable housing requirements and lay out steps for towns to adopt plans, using a formula based on a 2018 court ruling. Under a previous version of the bill legislators tried to rush through the end of their “lame duck” session late last year, that role would have fallen to the judiciary. Democratic Sen. Troy Singleton, the bill’s prime sponsor, said taking more time allowed for improvements local leaders wanted.

“I know that that's something municipalities have wanted — more of a role for state agencies,” said Adam Gordon, executive director of the non-profit Fair Share Housing Center, which for the last several years has negotiated the affordable housing plans with towns through the courts.

Lisa Lontai, deputy mayor of Warren, a rural town in Somerset County, said her town doesn’t have the infrastructure to support the amount of affordable housing she expects to be assigned when the next round of calculations are done.

“To put the onus of responsibility on our taxpayers to increase the sewers, to develop mass transit, to put in sidewalks, it doesn't really seem fair,” she said.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the state is more than 200,000 affordable units short of what it needs to provide housing to people whose incomes are at or below the poverty level, or 30% of their area’s median income.

A landmark state Supreme Court decision known as the Mount Laurel doctrine requires that every town in the state must contribute their share of lower-income housing in their community.

‘Bonuses’ for towns

Advocates say a “bonus” structure in the latest version of the bill could make it easier for towns to meet their affordable housing obligations, while incentivizing them not to put all their lower-income units on the outskirts of town.

For example, if a town put an affordable unit near a transit center, it would get credit for another unit toward its obligation.

Towns can also earn bonuses creating supportive housing for people with special needs, family housing (units with at least three bedrooms), and the redevelopment of existing structures. The bill in its current form says towns cannot apply bonuses for more than 25% of their total.

“[Redevelopment] is really important because a lot of New Jersey municipalities tend to be smaller and tend to not have a lot of developable space,” said Matthew Hersh, director of policy and advocacy at the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey.

One of those small communities that has to think creatively about affordable housing is the Camden County borough of Haddonfield, which is just under 3 square miles in size. Mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich said the borough just broke ground on a new 20-unit property that will be all affordable housing. But moving forward, she said, there’s little open space to build new housing.

“And I'll be frank. I don't know that I want it developed for housing. I'm a big proponent of environmental protection,” she said.

Bianco Bezich said her town fits the profile of a locale that could benefit from the bonus system. She noted Haddonfield’s vibrant downtown has things that people need, like a drug store, grocery store, buses to get in and out of nearby Camden and throughout the state, and a train station.

“We are transit-centered. In fact, we're right next to Philadelphia by train,” she said.

Bianco Bezich said that if the bonuses end up coming to fruition, she’d love to take a bunch of them.

Advocates also argue promoting redevelopment of properties will also be good for the environment.

“We need to make sure that we're doing a little bit of infill density [adding to already developed areas], and we're not disturbing greenfields and areas that don't have housing,” Baldwin said.

Mia Sacks, council president in Princeton in Mercer County, testified last week at a hearing on the bill in the Assembly. She said she was “especially pleased” that the bill incorporated bonus credits for redevelopment to promote “environmentally smart growth.”

Sacks said the vast majority of the affordable housing currently being developed in Princeton is being done through environmentally conscious redevelopment and “smart growth” near the town’s resources.

“There's only one site which is on the outskirts. … The bulk of the housing in our new settlement is going in and around the Princeton shopping center with the obvious economic benefits to the shopping center, but it is also, as I mentioned, close to school. So kids will be living with the ability to walk to school,” she said.

Some towns remain unmoved

Yet some municipal leaders argue the bill, and broadly New Jersey’s approach to affordable housing obligations, will increase costs for existing residents. It maintains a state ban on a now-defunct practice that let wealthier towns pay poorer neighbors to take on some of their affordable housing obligations.

Lontai, the Warren mayor, said she thinks the state needs to take a more regional approach than what’s in the current bill.

“See what communities have the infrastructure available to support these low-income housing units and then if other areas like Warren does not, provide us with the resources with which to build that up,” she said.

Mayor Hemant Marathe of West Windsor, in Mercer County, called the current legislation “anti-middle class,” arguing more affordable housing will put a tax burden on existing residents — with more kids entering school systems.

“For a town like West Windsor, the majority of the school expenses are paid by local taxpayers and the new housing that's built, the tax contribution from new housing never covers the expense of educating kids,” he said.

Marathe said the current bill calls for “unlimited, uncontrolled growth” of affordable housing at a time when his town hasn’t finished developing the low income housing from the last round of obligations.

“People should be aware that if this bill passes in the current form, it will make it far more expensive for every Joe or Jill to stay in New Jersey,” he said.

Some supporters see room for improvement as well. Bianco Bezich, the Haddonfield mayor, said she thinks the state needs to consider funding for education and professional development for local officials on the housing process itself. She said her town spends as much as $400,000 a year on affordable housing planning and redevelopment attorneys “just to understand this stuff.”

Sacks, the Princeton council president, said she’s confident that New Jersey can get itself out of the 200,000-unit affordable housing shortfall.

“I think there's a strong coalition of local officials, housing advocates, state level officials and legislators who are committed to this,” she said.