The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Paramus NJ, the borough of Paramus, New Jersey, has officially accepted the state-mandated requirement to add 1,000 new “affordable housing units” over the next decade—the largest obligation of any town in Bergen County. While town officials acknowledge the necessity of meeting state housing laws, they are also seeking ways to reduce this number to 250 units through a study of available land.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Montvale NJ, according to Mayor Mike Ghassali ,Montvale is ready to go to Federal Court and fight for the correct and fair due process.
Continue reading Montvale Says ,”Enough is Enough” on “Affordable Housing” Obligations
“We are screwed in NJ due to a few things. The developers know that if they don’t get what they want, the ‘mt laurel’ nonsense is used as a ‘builders remedy’ and they simply toss in the minimum number of affordable housing units and get exponentially more ‘market rate’ units that would have been allowed under the permitted zoning. I have zero respect for our former council members, but depending on whether the developer gives a crap about town, it could be worse. I am not in favor of ANY of these new monstrosities and would have preferred something more within the existing character of the Village.”
“It does appear to be suspicious . The property at 78 Woodcliff Lake Rd. Saddle River, NJ that is supposed to have 24 affordable housing units built on it does not have a system in place for water and sewage. The quote that I heard was it is going to cost between 30 to 50 million dollars to put the water /sewage system in place. Something is not right…. Who is profiting here?”
photo courtesy of Chestnut Village Facebook page
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Two-Forty Associates LLC, the company behind the 43-unit Chestnut Village, under construction on Chestnut Street has filed suit against the village, alleging the municipality reneged on previously granted permission to provide special-needs housing, and instead changed its requirement to affordable units. Two-Forty Associates/Chestnut Village is owned by the Bolger family.
Continue reading Ridgewood Developer Looks to Back Out of Affordable Housing Commitment
Posted by Matt Rooney On January 25, 2017
If you missed last week’s affordable housing decision from the N.J. Supreme Court, Save Jerseyans, then get caught up ASAP right here.
The bottom line?
New Jersey communities face NEW property tax-busting affordable housing requirements, as many as 150,000 unit state-wide; the numbers are being fought-out in a number of trial level venues as we speak.
Some of you have asked me what this could look like on a town-by-town basis.
Not pretty, that’s for damn sure, but our friend Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi (R-39) shared one pro-affordable housing organization’s projections via social media this morning to illustrate the challenge ahead for New Jersey’s municipalities.
Brace yourselves:
https://savejersey.com/2017/01/affordable-housing-units-bergen-county-new-jersey/
By MaryAnn Spoto | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 18, 2017 at 1:50 PM, updated January 18, 2017 at 7:16 PM
TRENTON — New Jersey has to build thousands more units for its low-income residents to make up for the 16 years that the state didn’t address those needs, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
In a decision addressing New Jersey’s long-stalled regulations governing affordable housing, the state’s highest court said towns must take into consideration the need for housing that existed within their borders between 1999 and 2015. That’s the so-called gap period when the Council on Affordable Housing failed to adopt new rules.
The 6-0 decision, the latest in decades of Mount Laurel rulings governing affordable housing in New Jersey, rejects the assertion that only 37,000 units are needed and that the gap period calculations are not necessary because that need no longer exists.
“The decision says that the promise of the Mount Laurel decision is real for tens of thousands of families and people with disabilities and the New Jersey Supreme Court said our commitment to fight discrimination remains good law,” said Kevin Walsh, executive director of Fair Share Housing Center, the advocacy group that has taken the lead in enforcing Mount Laurel obligations.
https://www.nj.com/ocean/index.ssf/2017/01/nj_on_the_hook_for_200k_affordable_housing_units_s.html
Updated: DECEMBER 1, 2016 — 1:07 AM EST
by David O’Reilly, Staff Writer
In a case that could reshape the look and feel of many New Jersey towns, the state Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on whether municipalities must zone for the many thousands of affordable-housing units that they did not zone for during the last 16 years.
If the high court rules that an obligation for that “gap period” exists, it could double or triple the number of affordable-housing units that some towns and cities must zone for by 2025.
In some of their questioning, justices seemed to be skeptical that the obligation could be avoided.
“Are you saying these people [in need of affordable housing] disappeared for 16 years?” asked Justice Faustino Fernandez-Vina.
BY SALVADOR RIZZO
