the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Glen Rock NJ, The state affordable housing mandate was the center of contention Thursday night at a borough council candidate forum, reflecting community divisions in a debate where most party politics and policy disagreements were tame. Glen Rock mayoral and council candidate forum was held on Thursday, October 17. The forum Thursday drew around 100 residents to the borough hall, where they submitted questions for the two mayoral candidates and five council candidates to address. The topics on residents’ minds such as affordable housing, municipal spending, senior services, Faber Field, downtown development and borough leaders’ social media practices.
Glen Rock currently faces pending litigation with the nonprofit Fair Share Housing Center, which often sues municipalities, referencing a controversial New Jersey doctrine that requires municipalities to use zoning authority to provide low- and moderate-income housing options. The borough was confronted last month with an “unmet need” of 393 affordable-housing units. But it is not the only municipality in the county facing pressure to develop affordable housing, said Kristine Morieko, the Democratic mayoral candidate and incumbent council president.
Republican mayoral candidate Sanjiv Ohri said his opponent is part of an incumbent council that hadn’t “followed the right process” for an affordable-housing project at 261 Rock Road, where a developer is expected to build a three-story, 11-unit complex.“There was no input from the residents,” Ohri said. “We had no clue. The biggest elephant in the room is that affordable housing has been forced upon us.”The Rock Road development comes as the borough tries to avoid builder’s remedy lawsuits, attempts by developers to force municipalities to allow the construction of multi-family housin
