6 events in Passaic County with a date

Controversial NJ housing plan could bypass local zoning rules

By: William Westoven
Morristown Daily Record
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... A bill moving through the New Jersey Legislature's lame-duck session might be good news for nonprofits and religious groups looking to unload property in a seller's market.
..... Housing developers, too, could get a boost.
..... But other parties, ranging from municipal leaders to at least one environmental group, say the legislation would allow largely unfetted building, with little regard to local zoning laws or smart-planning goals.
..... The goal; of the bill, introduced by sate Sean tor Troy Singleton, is to encourage the construction of more affordable housing in New Jersey by cutting red tape for nonprofit owners hat seek to build "exclusionary housing.
..... "What we;re trying to do, in the simplest terms, is to remove or reduce the regulatory and zooming barriers to housing development," Singleton, a Burlington country Democrat, said in a an interview.
..... "We have both an affability crisis, a supply crisis and the economic growth problem that is tired to housing. That, to me, is why this particulate piece of legislation is so important."
..... Sounding the opposition is Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco, a Morris county Republican. he said the bill is likely to pass before year's [2025] end with support from Democratic lawmakers and Governor Phil Murphy.
..... His North Jersey district includes several towns that have been pushing back on a state mandate requiring them to cerate more low- and moderate-income housing. that requirement has spared a residential building boom, with more to come. Many local officials and residents say the influx has ruined the character of their towns while straining resources and increasing traffic.
..... Singleton's proposal, Bucco said, "is really misguided."
..... "It would take away the zoning powers of a municipality," he said. "That has never been done before. one size doesn't fit all. We've seen that time and time again. It's a local issue. The state should not be imposing its judgment on local municipalities."

Why local officials are worried

..... Bucco was in Madison on November 10, [2025] when the town council unanimously passed a resolution opposing the legislation S4736.
..... Borough officials said it could undercut their efforts to preserve 51 wooded acres that Drew University has tried to develop.
..... "We have been committed to providing affordable housing long before we ever had to," Mayor Robert Conley,a Democrat, said at the meeting. "But we have never done it [while] turning a blind eye to good planning. And that's what this bill does. This would be terrible for all over the state, Yes, we must deliver affordable housing. But we will do it the right way."
..... The council in neighboring Chatham Borough passed a similar resolution on November 10. [2025]
..... "I believe we need more housing that is affordable," Chatham council President Jocely Mathiasen said in an email. "However, I also believe in good land-use planning and throughout, deliberate consideration of projects with local input."
..... The Singleton bill, she said, "overrides the state, county, and local planning process and sues a sledgehammer approach to force more market-rate (typically 'luxury') apartments without regard to local impacts.
..... "It is twist of the knife,: she added. "No wonder they are trying to sneak it through in lame duck."

How affordable housing bill would work

..... The New Jersey State League of Municipalities also opposes the bill, noting that it would allow nonprofits to build affordable housing while bypassing the need for any variances to local zoning rules.
..... "The bill requires a municipal planning board to approve an application to repurchase or redevelop an legible property into an inclusionary development with affordable housing, regardless of the eligible property's location in the municipality, if the project complies with applicable zoning requirements, as described in the bill,: the league says on its website.
..... Projects would be eligible for such treatment if 20% of tier proposed units meet state criteria for moderate-, low-income housing.
..... Housing proposed on those properties "shall be allowed a density of 40 units per acre and a height of one story above the maximum hight otherwise applicable to the zoning district,' the bill says.
..... Singleton says critics of the measure overstate the power it would offer to nonprofits and religious institutions. New Eyesore's housing crisis, on the other hand, is not overstated, he said.
..... "Regardless of whether it's affordable, moderate - whatever you want to label it - our housing inventory shortage is pretty significant," he said. "It has real economic consequences."
..... He cited a U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimate this May [2025] that said New Jersey's housing shortage contributed to $12.6 billion in lost "economic output."
..... "Basic economics 101" suggests that "you cerate more supply to meet the demand and pricing goes down," he said. "and we need to do that, because we're seeing individuals are being priced out of the ability to stay in New Jersey. We need to do better in that regard."

What is the Mount Laurel decision?

..... New Jersey;s current, court-enforced housing mandate traces back half a century to the state Supreme Court's Mount Laurel decision. The ruling outlawed "exclusionary zoning" and direct4ed municipalities to change local laws to allow for the construction of their "fair shire" of affordable units.
..... The state eventually create a Council on Affordable Ho suing to enforce the Mount Laurel doctrine.
..... But after 15 years of reenforcement, the state Supreme Court again weighed in 2015 and shifted oversight to the judicial system. "builder;s remedy" lawsuits, compelled towns to accommodate development projects as log as they offer a minority of the units - often as little as 20% - at below-market rates.
..... In 2024, Murphy and the Democratic Legislature passed a new housing law to speed construction and codify the process for towns to determine the number of units need to build.
..... Aaron Gordon, executive director of the Fair Share Ho suing Center, a advocacy group, welcomed Singleton's measure, which he called the "YIGBY - yest in God's Back yard - bill." It "reflects a practical approach gaining national momentum to address American;s housing crisis."
..... The bill "empowers faith-based and nonprofit institutions to cerate affordable homes on land they already own, while maintaining local environmental protections," Gordon said. "New Jersey can and must advance both housing opportunity and environmental stewardship. This proposed legislation helps achieve that balance."
..... The legislation was referred to the state Senate's Community and Urban Affairs Committee. No hearing has yet been announced, The bill must pass the full Senate and state Assembly and coercive the governor's signature to become law.

Drew Forest preservation at risk?

..... In Madison, however, officials said the measure could allow Drew University to build high-density housing on campus forestland that the town wants to purchase for open space.
..... "The bill has a laudable goal of accelerating the construction of affordable housing in New Jersey," said Clair Whitcomb, who chairs the borough Environmental Commission.
..... But it also "incentives sprawl, overrides local master plan goals and undermines the need for the sort of smart-growth planning hat makes towns walkable, livable and pubic-transporation-savvy," shes aid. "Most importantly, the bill totally ignores the need to protect New Jersey's dwindling open space, reduce flooding and protect overstressed natural resources."
..... After two years of negotiations, legal battles and a pubic campaign to protect the property, the two sides announced an agreement last November [2024] for the university to sell most of the Drew Forest land to Madison. although full terms of the agreement were never revealed, Madison officials at one pint said they had offered more than 465 million p consisting of local, county and federal funds.
..... But a year later, [2025] that deal has not been finalized. this summer, [2025] Drew outlined the potential construction of nearly 700 residential units on the property, about a fifth of them reserved for affordable housing. university officials did not respond to request for comment for this story.

Where's Mikie Sherrill's affordable housing?

..... Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat who has represented Madison in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District, was instrumental ion obtaining federal grant dollars to help the borough;s attempt to purchase the forest. Many local officials in the suburban district have complained that mount Laurel has fueled over-development.
..... During her campaign, Sherrill said she would work to make it easier and cheaper ti build new housing.
..... Speaking about affordable housing policy after being elected on November 4, [2025] she promised to end diversions from the state's Affordable Ho suing Trust Fund, which she said should be dedicated to helping towns develop units that are accessible for the working class. She promised to reduce building and construction costs by streamline the state permuting process.
..... Sherrill also promised to expand first-time home-buyer assistance programs.

HOME