JULY 12, 2015, 10:09 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2015, 10:44 PM
BY STEPHANIE AKIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
In what some legal experts are calling a watershed moment in the decades-long battle over affordable housing in New Jersey, courts across the state are bracing for a potential onslaught of lawsuits from builders and property owners seeking to force municipalities to accept housing developments for low- and moderate-income residents.
For the first time in almost 30 years, builders can go directly to the courts, rather than a state agency long criticized as a bureaucratic black hole, to challenge local building restrictions if towns have not shown that they meet state quotas for affordable housing.
“It’s a very big deal,” said Lori Grifa, a Hackensack-based lawyer and former chairwoman of the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing. “The courts will be very busy this summer.”
The Christie administration in 2011 tried to disband the Council on Affordable Housing, which for decades oversaw how municipalities regulated low-income development, calling it ineffective. But in March, the state Supreme Court ruled that affordable housing must be regulated and put judges in charge of setting rules and giving guidance to towns on how many low-cost housing units they should build.
The ruling was delayed for 90 days to allow towns and housing developers, as well as the courts, time to set up a system to handle the potential litigation. It then provided towns a 30-day grace period — starting June 8 — to initiate claims showing that they already have enough affordable housing and should be considered immune from builders’ lawsuits.
After that, towns that have not filed anything with the courts could be sued.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-courts-brace-for-housing-lawsuits-1.1373088
Will our high density housing have a low income housing component?
The governor dropped the ball on this, now the courts are the ones deciding on a case by case basis.
Is the blog so desperate that it has to accept an ad for a “swinger personal” site? I don’t like seeing it here.
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If you are seeing an add for a swinger site, it’s quite possible that it’s a user-targeted ad, rather than a paid advertiser than the Blog has made an advertising deal with. In other words, it could be an ad that is consistent with your web-surfing history (i.e. your personal cookie collection).
lol yuup
Because everyone wants “UN” affordable housing.
@10:22. Of course.
We need serious discussion of the combination of these affordable housing developments and the planning board’s decision to allow hundreds of new families to move into a few acres of land in downtown Ridgewood. I think one of the consequences of the housing projects approved by the planning board will be to set ourselves up for these very builder suits as well as claims of “spot zoning.”
Affordable housing is a great goal. But what we completely don’t understand is how the courts will enforce the means to that goal. So, we are on the verge of approving 400 to 500 new family units in the middle of town at selected sites. Some of that will be designated for low income. What if it is not enough in the eyes of some judge? What if the judge measures the need for low income housing against the entire town as a whole. Is it possible the judge could say we need to designate 50% of all new housing to low income?
Frankly, that might bring a nice diversity to the town and I think we all love to hear about hard working families that are given a chance. But, what will the effect be on the speculators / builders who think they just hit the jackpot with the planning board. Low income means less profit. Will that profit come out of the facades of the buildings we have to look at? Will it come out of the taxes the developers said would be generated when the developers go in and demand tax reductions? Will it come out of the structures themselves so that we are the cusp of creating tenements in our downtown. Remember, the planning board did not approve “quality housing.” It approved increased housing density, period. If the developers are forced to give up profit by the courts, they will have no incentive to build quality units and we will have no ability to stop them from building sub-standard units.
And then there is the issue of surrounding properties. Once one property owner sees that they can tear down a store and put up 50 to 100 family units, why won’t they? The planning board randomly picked spots in town and said they were suitable for high density living. There is no rhyme or reason to what they did, other than that is what the developers asked for first. The planning board did not “plan”, it “reacted” to what the developers demanded. These same developers or the next set will come in and ask for the same treatment. And when they don’t get it, they will make the same arguments that hoodwinked the current planning board – – we need to do this to satisfy affordable housing rules. And regardless of what the planning board says, they only need to convince one judge that they are right.
The Village council needs to seriously consider these issues in detail before it approves the massive over-development of downtown Ridgewood.