Bill could revise NJ housing formula

Special masters would set affordable unit plans

By: Ashley Balcerzak
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... New Jersey towns may follow a new process to calculate their constructionally mandated affordable housing quotas in two to three years, under a wide-reaching lame-duck session by legislative leaders Monday. [12/18/2023]
..... Under the 68-page bill, town would follow a formula based on a previous court ruling by state Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson in Mercer County, and would be subject to deadlines throughout 2025 and 2026 that they must hit to cerate housing plans, change ordinances and hear challenges to the plans in order to be protected from lawsuits brought by developers in the fourth round of housing obligations, which begins July 1, 2025, and last 10 years.
..... New Jersey needs to cerate more than 224,000 affordable units to meet its needs for extremely low-income families, according to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
..... A series of influential state Supreme Court cases beginning in 1975 that created the Mount Laurel doctrine said municipalities must zone for and provide a "fair share" of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families, which typically means a house hold would spend no more than a third of its monthly paycheck on housing expenses.
..... The state cerated the Council on affordable Housing to approve towns' affordable housing plans.
..... "If towns submitted affordable housing plans to the council and the council approved them, the towns would be protected for a period of time from builder's remedy lawsuits, through which a developer can avoid the municipal approval process and build a project with ans many market-rate units as it would like as long as at least 20% of the units are affordable.
..... The council approved plans for two "rounds" of housing obligations through 1999, but failed for 16 years afterwards to adopt updated affordable housing equators and rules to cover a third round, stalling construction on affordable units for decades.
..... In March 2015, the New Jersey Supreme Court said the council was "moribund" and non- functioning, bringing the process into Superior Court.
..... This new proposal would officially abolish the agency.
..... Municipality have since negotiated settlements that lay out plans to build affordable housing with the Fair Share Housing center, which argues on behalf of low- and moderate-income households.
..... Under the current process, New Jersey towns have doubled the rate at which they built affordable housing, according to a report released by the fair Share Housing Center.
..... Mayors' groups have said the current process is "inefficient, ineffective and costly" and called on the Legislature to revive the defunct administrative agency.
..... "My staff and I worked on creating a process that leans from previous rounds and lays out a uniform, transparent and efficient plan for municipalities to meet their fair share obligations," said Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez, D-Middlesex, chair of the Assembly Housing Committee.
..... "We know that the Council on Affordable housing did not work," Lopez said. "Although the current system increased production, it has also resulted in a process that has been costly and lengthy for municipal partners. I believe the fourth round will be our most productive round yet, ensuring that every town meets its fair share and improves the lives of our residents."
..... Housing advocates said they were cautiously optimistic, but they urged leaders not to speed through the process.
..... "We are deeply concerned about considering this initiative during the holiday season, when many of our members are already extremely busy providing services to their communities, and during the waning days of the lame-duck legislative session," said Staci Berger, president and CEO of the Housing and community Development Network of New Jersey.
..... "we urge the legislature and Governor Murphy to move carefully and deliberately and to collect feedback from the folks who are building affordable homes," Berger said.
..... Michael Cerra, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said, "They called it landmark ... it is also complicated. We will have to work through our understanding of the methodology and how it will be applied here.
..... "What we're wanted form the outset is flexibility," Cerra said. "It's a positive that the Legislature is recognizing a need for a legislative solution."
.....Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex said lawmakers are aiming to pas the legislation before the next session stats on January 9, 2024.
..... "If we can get it done in lame duck, because I want to make sure that the municipalities and everyone has a chance to start to work on its process," Coughlin said.
..... The governor's office is also aiming for a tight turnaround in the last three weeks of the session.
..... "The governor looks forward to constructively engaging with the Legislature on this legislation and is hopeful that a final version can be enacted into law before the end of the current legislative session," said deputy press secretary Bailey Lawrence.

How new system would work

..... Three court-appointed special masters - one each for North, Central and South Jersey - would calculate how many affordable housing units each town will be required to zone for. The chief justice would appoint a group of current or retired judges or other experts to help resolve challenges to proposed plans.
..... If "local factors exists that make the special master's calculations unreasonable" then towns can diverge from the calculated obligation, according to the bill.
..... the proposed timeline outlined in the bill is:
* November 15, 2024: Special master must publish the calculations of how many affordable units towns must zone for.
* January 31, 2025: Municipalities must adopt the obligation by binding resolution.
* February 1, 2025: Parties can challenge the numbers through the "Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program."
* April 1, 2025: Towns must have resolved any challenges.
* June 30, 2025: towns must have a housing element and air share plan in place.
* August 31, 2025; Interested parties can challenge the fair share plan.
* November 30, 2025: Municipality must have committed to revising the plan in response to the challenge, or must explain why it won't make the changes.
* January 31, 2026: Municipalities must have adopted changes to local ordinances.
..... If towns don;t meet the deadlines, they could lose immunity to builder's remedy lawsuits.
..... The legislation sets aside $16 million to administer the program.

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