Page 12 - RE-NJ

10 OCTOBER 2024
NINE TOWNS CHALLENGE N.J.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING LAW
Nine towns are suing to block New
Jersey’s new affordable housing
law, arguing it imposes excessive
mandates on municipalities without
fully considering local conditions
and resources.
The bipartisan coalition, led by
Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali, says
the mandates go
beyond what is
constitutionally
required under
the landmark
Mount Laurel
doctrine that
has guided
New Jersey’s
Mike Ghassali
affordable
housing policy for the past fi ve
decades. And it comes as state
offi cials prepare to publish new
calculations for each town and city’s
obligations for the development
of low- and moderate-income
homes, part of a framework that the
Department of Community Affairs is
slated to unveil by year-end.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed the law
in March, calling it a “monumental
piece of legislation” in the long-
running, controversial policy debate
over how to address the state’s
shortage of affordable housing. But
the saga is now set to continue with
the legal challenge by Montvale,
Denville, Florham Park, Hillsdale,
Mannington, Millburn, Montville,
Old Tappan and Totowa, which say
they and other towns would unfairly
shoulder the burden of some 60
urban and low-income communities
that aren’t explicitly required to
build new affordable housing.
“This isn’t about politics — it’s
about fairness,” Ghassali said
in prepared remarks. “Whether
Republican or Democrat, we all
believe that communities should
have a say in how they grow. Our
communities lose the ability to
plan for their future when they
are mandated by Trenton to
support the housing needs of other
municipalities, often signifi cantly
larger in size, on top of our existing
obligations.”
Lawmakers involved in crafting the
bill quickly blasted the lawsuit as a
stall tactic.
“Affl uent, suburban towns opposing
affordable housing mandates is
nothing new — same story, different
day,” said Sen. Troy Singleton, a
Democrat who chairs the Senate
Community and Urban Affairs
Committee. “What is incredibly
offensive, beyond using taxpayer
dollars to fund this politically
driven, superfl uous lawsuit, is the
attempt to use the legal process to
intentionally delay our affordable
housing laws — not by weeks or
months, but years.”
New Jersey Builders Association
CEO Jeff Kolakowski, whose group
supported the new law, added:
“NJBA is disappointed but certainly
not surprised at yet another attempt
by certain municipalities to get out
of the constitutional obligation to
provide their fair share of affordable
housing. We are looking forward to
the implementation of the balanced
affordable
housing
legislation
enacted into
law early this
year and are
optimistic that
the court will
see through the
Jeff Kolakowski
real purpose of
this lawsuit which is obfuscation
and delay.”
Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez,
a top sponsor of the measure and
chair of the Assembly Housing
Committee, noted that supporters
“worked with mayors to ensure
the law is workable and will give
responsible local elected offi cials
the tools they need to accomplish
this goal.”
The nine towns involved in the
lawsuit, which call themselves Local
Leaders for Responsible Planning,
say there are at least seven others
from Bergen to Salem counties that
have adopted resolutions supporting
their efforts and are anticipated
to join them as named plaintiffs.
They include Allendale, Oradell,
River Vale, Washington, Westwood,
Wharton and Wyckoff. Michael L.
Collins of King, Moench & Collins
LLP is representing the coalition
in the lawsuit, which is docketed
as Borough of Montvale v. State of
New Jersey.
In the meantime, the complaint in
state Superior Court takes aim at
the mediation system established
by the law, which calls for having
retired judges and other experts
resolve disputes between DCA and
municipalities that are challenging
their affordable housing obligations.
The plaintiffs call the program “an
unconstitutional structure” that
places the decisions in the hands of
unelected offi cials.
“Local leaders are the ones who
know their communities best,”
Ghassali said. “Handing our future
over to a panel of unvetted ‘experts’
with no connection to our towns is
a disservice to our residents.”
Murphy said after signing the law
that his team and lawmakers sought
“to craft a new process where all
three branches of government are
involved,” with the next round of
state-mandated affordable housing
requirements for municipalities
set to begin July 1, 2025. The
new framework emerged as
part of a package of bills tied to
affordable housing, with Democrats
spearheading the legislation with
support from key stakeholders such
as the Fair Share Housing Center
and NJBA.
“New Jersey has a shortage of over
200,000 affordable housing units
and there are
14 prospective
renters for
each vacant
apartment,”
Adam Gordon,
Fair Share
Housing
Center’s
Adam Gordon
executive
director, wrote in response to the
Sept. 9 lawsuit. “A delay of three
years or more of building affordable
housing, as Mayor Ghassali has
proposed, would harm families,
people with disabilities and seniors
struggling with record-high rents
and home prices.
“The lawsuit will inevitably get
thrown out in court. It’s purely a
smokescreen to undermine and
delay the implementation of New
Jersey’s landmark new affordable
housing law (S50/A4). This lawsuit
is nothing new — it’s supported
by many of the same ultra-wealthy
communities who have fought
affordable housing for decades,
every step of the way. The lawsuit
also is a thinly veiled attempt to
revisit through the courts arguments
that failed in the political process.”