Page 18 - RE-NJ

16 MAY 2025
TOWNS FILE FEDERAL LAWSUIT
OVER AFFORDABLE HOUSING LAW
The coalition of towns seeking
to undo New Jersey’s new
affordable housing law is taking
its case to federal court, arguing
the framework violates the
Constitution’s equal protection
clause.
The group of 28 municipalities,
known as Local Leaders for
Responsible Planning, filed a
lawsuit on April 24 in U.S. District
Court, escalating a legal battle that
began late last summer in state
Superior Court. The plaintiffs are
once again taking aim at the criteria
used to determine affordable
housing obligations for the state’s
564 local governments, arguing that
suburban towns would unfairly
shoulder the burden of some 60
urban and low-income communities
that aren’t explicitly required to
build new inventory.
At issue in the federal lawsuit is
the state’s use of the so-called
Urban Aid Classification, which
distinguishes between more affluent
towns and those that historically
required greater funding from the
state, as a means of calculating the
housing shortfalls.
“Every community should do its
part — but
Trenton’s
suburb-only
housing plan
just isn’t fair,”
said Montvale
Mayor Mike
Ghassali,
who leads
Mike Ghassali
the coalition.
“We are in federal court because
our communities are not receiving
equal protection under the law with
Trenton’s housing mandates.”
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The plaintiffs said the Urban
Aid Classification is based on
outdated trends in population
growth. While historically skewed
toward suburban municipalities,
the coalition said, that growth is
now split evenly between urban aid
and non-urban aid municipalities,
“demonstrating how the
classification is now arbitrary and
capricious.”
In addition to the new federal
complaint, the LLRP in recent
months has filed three separate
lawsuits that remain pending in
state court.
“We are speaking out to protect the
character of our neighborhoods,”
Ghassali added. “We’re standing up
for the moms, dads and seniors who
want good schools, safe streets and
open space.”
The mounting lawsuits come
in response to the law signed
in March 2024 by Gov. Phil
Murphy and the ensuing
calculations by the state
Department of Community Affairs,
which identified a statewide deficit
of more than 150,000 low- and
moderate-income homes. The
agency also released obligations
for each municipality, giving
them until Jan. 31 to adopt those
guidelines or come up with their
own, which would subject them
to challenges from developers,
affordable housing advocates and
other stakeholders through the end
of February.
The coalition filed suit in early
September to block the law’s
implementation, specifically ahead
of the Jan. 31 deadline, arguing
it imposed excessive mandates
without fully considering local
conditions and resources. They’ve
also railed against the process
that the state will use to resolve
disputes over a town’s obligations
— in which retired judges and
other experts would serve as
mediators — arguing that those
officials are susceptible to conflicts
of interest.
Additionally, LLRP has taken issue
with regulations released by the
New Jersey Housing and Mortgage
Finance Agency, contending that
the nearly 200 pages of rules were
released in mid-December without
giving municipalities an opportunity
to even review or comment on
them.