Tag: Affordable Housing

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There is a constitutional obligation for municipalities in New Jersey to foster some degree of affordable housing

CBD high density housing

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, it seems many in Ridgewood are unaware of the so called Mount Laurel doctrine, the Mount Laurel doctrine is a controversial judicial interpretation of the New Jersey State Constitution. The doctrine requires that municipalities use their zoning powers in an affirmative manner to provide a realistic opportunity for the production of housing affordable to low and moderate income households.

The doctrine takes its name from the lead case in which it was first pronounced by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1975: Southern Burlington County N.A.A.C.P. v. Mount Laurel Township (commonly called Mount Laurel I), in which the plaintiffs challenged the zoning ordinance of Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey, on the grounds that it operated to exclude low and moderate income persons from obtaining housing in the municipality.

In 1985 the New Jersey Legislature responded by passing the Fair Housing Act. Accepting the premise that there was some constitutional obligation for municipalities to foster some degree of affordable housing, this legislation created an administrative agency, the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), to establish regulations whereby the obligation of each municipality in terms of the number of units and how the obligation could be satisfied.

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Reader asks , “why does Ridgewood seem to be taking it on the chin with Affordable Housing?”

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James, re housing:
Ok, cant disagree with the recommendation on who to vote for. But why does Ridgewood seem to be taking it on the chin? Why aren’t we fighting? Why isn’t our council actively supporting those representatives trying to undo this housing madness? Why does our legal representation seem so weak? Why did the council fold like a cheap suit when Village residents sued to stop the development and why did the council side with the developers over the residents? Why doesn’t the Village come up with some other proposal rather than agreeing to do a percentage of the squalid housing now being constructed?
So, it seems to me that the Council just agreed to plant hundreds if not thousands of new units throughout the Village.

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New Jersey Looking to Buy Foreclosed Homes

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

River Vale NJ, Holly Schepisi New Jersey State Assemblywoman for District 39 ,Currently, New Jersey has a total of 391,428 vacant housing units, according to Census data, with the highest concentration in Newark. These numbers are staggering particularly as we build hundreds of thousands additional units of court imposed housing in New Jersey. Why aren’t we converting even a fraction of these homes into affordable housing rather than building on every last remaining parcel? What is wrong with this State?

Continue reading New Jersey Looking to Buy Foreclosed Homes

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Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi : Raising Legitimate Concerns Over Court Forced Development is Not Racism

CBD high density housing

July 28,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

River Vale NJ, Holly Schepisi (New Jersey State Assemblywoman for District 39 )” I will say this as clearly as possible. The current system does not work properly for anyone. Because I want the legislature to do its job and implement better policies for our communities does not make me a racist or xenophobic as stated by Kevin Walsh, the Fair Share Housing head. I am committed to focusing on providing affordability in housing for all that need it, including our seniors, our veterans, our disabled, new home owners, people who have lost their jobs or have a medical issue and the poor of all races. I do not care what race, religion, ethnicity, political affiliation you identify with. If you want to be my neighbor I will welcome you with open arms. What I do not want is to have every last piece of green space in the already most dense state paved over with 1,000 unit complexes. These units are being forced to be built by Fair Share Housing in communities with no public transportation, no jobs, no infrastructure, all volunteer fire and ambulance corps while increasing populations of small communities by 30 percent or more. Excising concerns about these real life issues is not racism. Calling it such is outrageous. “

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MAHWAH RECEIVES FINAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING NUMBER

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June 4,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Mahwah NJ, according to the group MahwahStrong , at the May 17th Council meeting town attorney Brian Chewcaskie gave a legal presentation on Mahwah’s affordable housing requirements. The video of this session is available at https://mahwahnj.swagit.com/play/05172018-820/6.
Summary of the Update
• Each NJ towns affordable housing requirements were based on 3 criteria. Mahwah ended up in Region #1 which had the highest affordable housing requirement. The criteria were;
1) Household Income (based on most recent census)
2) Amount of Non-residential Ratable properties
3) Vacant Land Available
• The number of units Mahwah is required to provide in this round is 830 units which after credits and other options will equate to approximately 210 new incremental affordable units built
• In addition to the 175 affordable units that will be built at the Crossroads center affordable units will be built at 3 other locations not previously discussed;
o 1 Fyke Road (Off Ramapo Valley Road) Approximately 42 units/ 7 affordable
o Mahwah Town Center (Post Office Location) Mixed Use commercial and residential. Residential will be no more than 14 units per acre. This site will yield an additional 10 affordable units
o 70 Island Road (Next to Fire Company #2) 15 units 100% affordable.
• Last, Mahwah must agree to set aside 20% of all future developments as affordable units.
If approved and agreed to this will close Mahwah’s affordable housing requirements through the year 2025 at which point additional affordable housing units will be required.

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New Jersey Continues to Suffer from Brain Drain

Millennial vs Boomer

December 7,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey continues to suffer long term brain drain . Millennials it seems can’t get out of New Jersey fast enough. From 2000 to 2013, the number of 22-to-34-year-olds living in New Jersey fell by 2.3 percent, according to Census data, even while the number of people in this age bracket increased by 6.8 percent nationally during the same timeframe. According to a calculation by Governing using Census estimates, New Jersey now ranks 47th out of 50 states and Washington, D.C., for its percentage of Millennials in 2012.

Why do so many young people flee the Garden State? The smart-growth nonprofit New Jersey Future considered this demographic trend in a report released in September. The report measured New Jersey’s municipalities on three smart growth metrics: walkability and street connectivity; the presence of a mixed-use center; and net activity density (defined as population plus employment, divided by developed square miles).

Unsurprisingly, New Jersey’s Millennials are just like Millennials everywhere else: They gravitate toward dense, mixed-use, walkable areas. Across the 118 places that scored well on all three smart-growth metrics, Millennials are 25 percent more prevalent than they are statewide. Conversely, they are 19 percent less likely than the general New Jersey population to live in the places that scored badly on all three metrics.

S it appears the lack of Millennial-friendly environments. Of the state’s 565 municipalities, only 183 scored well on two or all three smart-growth metrics, and according to the study, only 111 of those places are popular with Millennials. This imbalance may increase competition for housing in those high-scoring municipalities, pushing rent prices higher and Millennials out of those neighborhoods where they want to live most.

There are a number of other indicators that New Jersey’s Millennials are struggling with as well and like other generations its finding affordable housing . 47 percent of Millennials now live with their parents. Giving New Jersey the highest rate in the country of 18-to-34-year-olds living with their parents. Nationally, the number is just 33 percent, and in nearby Pennsylvania, it’s 37 percent.

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Murphy Needs You on His Transition Team

Tax and Spend Democrat Phil Murphy for Governor

November 27,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Murphy transition maintained a pretty low profile during Thanksgiving week, and the governor-elect himself made just one photo op feeding the down and out and less fortunate.

But there is plenty to be done behind the scenes: speeches to write, interviews to conduct, names to vet for jobs and Phil Murphy needs you to help out.

Phil Murphy rolled out his transition website, complete with a “Help Wanted ” sign and many job opportunities. Much like the official governor’s website, the transition site contains news and biography information for Murphy and his leadership team. But it was announced on Tuesday with a focus on finding people to fill out the functions of his administration.

“New Jersey’s greatest asset is its people,” Murphy said in a statement. “I call for all those interested in serving our administration to visit the Transition2018 website and submit their résumé for consideration. We will put an administration together that reflects New Jersey’s rich diversity of backgrounds and experiences, and we are committed to making those opportunities open to all.”

The website address is transition2018.nj.gov.

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Reader says pro-development crowd uses calls of “racism” to get its way

lunatic progressives losing debate use race card

those of us opposed to overdevelopment are a mixed lot. You would know this if you have been at the Village meetings and part of the debate. The charge of racism is completely off base. It was something generated by the pro-development crowd last time and it simply had no basis in fact. And, as more than one person asked in response to these false arguments, are “you people” in favor of overdevelopment saying that diversity is only achieved through sub-standard housing?

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Reader says Affordable housing can be beneficial to a handful of people but can be devastating to so many more

CBD high density housing

This affordability thing is one of the most perverted things I have come across.. How can an organization such as Fair Share housing have so much leverage in dictating their agenda. How can they play as they wish with the quality of life of so many towns, villages and people who have worked hard to make it where they are living now. Affordable housing can be beneficial to a handful of people but can be devastating to so many more. Yet there is no public outrage when they impose totally unrealistic numbers to nice towns without giving a sh!t in how people in these places feel about this. Local governments feel so powerless even though they represent the will of of local population.There are plenty of affordable places in NJ. Whoever can’t afford Ridgewood, HoHoKus, Montvale etc. can move to Paterson, Clifton etc. This has nothing to do with humanism, this is total abuse.

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Bergen County Towns Vote to Reject Forced Overdevelopement thru Affordable-housing

CBD high density housing

November 18,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Hillsdale NJ, Ballot questions were overwhelmingly approved in four Bergen County towns, Residents in Hillsdale, Park Ridge and River Vale voted this month in support of non-binding questions that called for the towns to stop issuing permits for large-scale housing projects until statewide affordable-housing rules are established. Dumont voters also approved a question that asked if the state Legislature should make appointments to the Council on Affordable Housing board and amend the Fair Housing Act. In each case residents voted against forced overdevelopment, did not want high-density apartments in their towns,  and they particularly reject high-density apartments built because of builder’s remedy lawsuits.

In 2015, the state Supreme Court ruled that municipalities should bypass the non-functioning Council on Affordable Housing and go directly to trial court judges to determine their affordable-housing obligations. Since then, many towns have been involved in costly litigation involving the Fair Share Housing Center, an affordable-housing advocacy group, to determine how many units of low- to moderate-income housing they constitutionally must provide.

Fair Share Housing has been accused of setting affordable-housing numbers that are unrealistic in relation to the ability of the town to absorb such significant housing levels. The fact is with housing comes infrastructure, police, fire, schools, sewage and water . Many politicians have referred to the Fair Housing Act as the “developers full employment act”

Local lawmakers are hoping Trenton is listening . Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, drafted the questions passed in Hillsdale, Park Ridge and River Vale. Schepisi, R-River Vale, has been at the forefront of efforts to come up with a statewide affordable-housing solution. She believes there is a more responsible way to meet obligations to provide low- to moderate-income housing and has been covered on this blog extensively .

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Van Emburgh Avenue Apartment complex would have negative impact on local community

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Our quiet, serene, beautiful and peaceful neighborhood on Van Emburgh Avenue stretching from Washington Township into Ridgewood and made up of 100 percent single family homes is about to be shattered by a court-ordered imposition of a 44-unit apartment complex. This mandate is to satisfy some nebulous rules about complying with Affordable Housing politically-correct social engineering forced on our town by the state.

I spoke against this mandate at a recent Township of Washington Planning Board for the following reasons: Many of the Township and Village residents moved here specifically to get away from densely-packed areas which have multi-family complexes.

The construction mud and noise pollution will disrupt our peaceful lives and enshroud us in a cloud of dust and dirt probably for something like two years. The now-empty land parcel they are plopping this monstrosity in is practically across the street from Immaculate Heart Academy High School. This will mean that the dozens and dozens of parents who drop their daughters off at school each morning will now be competing in traffic with arriving construction workers — excavators, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, roofers, painters, sheetrockers and landscapers, etc.

Since most people nowadays have two cars, and are two-worker households, that will mean that 88 more cars belonging to potential residents will join the traffic during the early mornings; and that number of cars doesn’t even include arriving faculty.

The loud sounds of earth movers, bulldozers, backhoes, bucket loaders, cement trucks and dump trucks as well as huge rigs delivering lumber, massive sanitary and storm pipes, roofing supplies, siding and landscaping materials will disrupt our peaceful existence.

Even if 12 of the residents of the 44-unit apartment complex have children, that means 100 brand new instant neighbors on our street.

The trouble with politically-correct mandated solutions to social concerns is that they don’t take into consideration the impact on the existing local governments. The prime example being the local school system population, police, fire, street sweeping and snow removal.

I want to urge the Township of Washington and The Village of Ridgewood to join Park Ridge and Hillsdale to put the question of “Affordable Housing” rules on the November ballot and put pressure on our state Legislature to straighten out the rules and regulations of these mandated nightmares.

Edward Galorenzo

Washington Township

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Assemblywomen says she hopes to force change by guiding a movement of civil disobedience.

CBD high density housing

August 21,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

River Vale NJ , Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi asks, “If the Democratic front runner for Governor boldly says NJ won’t comply with many federal laws he disagrees with, why can’t our suburban communities fight back against ridiculous NJ policies that the democratic controlled legislature refuses to change?”

Schepisi said she hopes to force change by guiding a movement of civil disobedience.

“We need more voices to be heard,” said Schepisi, an attorney. “No one I’ve spoken to is against affordable housing — everyone supports the idea,” she added. “What everyone objects to is high-density complexes thrust on small communities.”

Schepisi proposed legislation to impose a moratorium on lawsuits related to affordable housing and form a bipartisan commission to calculate the number of units needed to serve the state. Those bills have stalled.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/dumont/2017/08/19/dumont-voters-have-say-affordable-housing/566206001/

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Phil Murphy Funding the Over Development Push in New Jersey

phill murphy over developement
July 29,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, no surprise here that state Democrats are funding over building in Bergen County and looking to destroy the quality of life ,turning the county into another borough of Manhattan .

“Anyone who follows me knows I have been fighting to bring rational discussion to the over development crisis impacting most of our communities. As a result I have been labeled a racist, xenophobe and a whole host of awful and untrue things by a non profit organization Fair Share Housing Development. Imagine my surprise today when I saw that their top donor list includes gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy! And we wonder why our communities are receiving no help from their representatives in Trenton.” , Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi .

In Ridgewood this blog has long warned of over development , even warning residents to not vote for  a Hudson County Mayor .
Unfortunately the warnings went unheeded and after the “3 amigos ” reign of terror in the Village is now faced with 4 major high density housing developments  that will deplete the Village of Resources , pressure water,sewer, fire ,police and education as well as lower property values  and increase tax rates.

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Reader says its About Time Someone Fights this Mandated Over Development

CBD high density housing

THANK YOU Mr. Bramnick. I know chances are minimal that anything will come out of your effort but it is a nice feeling to know that someone really cares.

In the meantime read this article to learn more about this housing bullshit and how nice communities are being screwed up with no mercy. Of course I don’t expect dimwit liberals to read this. The word “conservative” equals “the sky is falling” to them:
https://www.conservativereview.com/articles/why-is-ben-carson-keeping-odious-obama-policies-at-hud

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 Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi : We need to stop this insanity of mandated Overdevelopment in NJ

CBD high density housing

I represent many communities in Bergen and Passaic counties that had significant flooding this week because of the torrential rains. The flooding episodes have become frequent and severe over the past two decades, primarily because there is no place left for groundwater from storms to be absorbed. Guess what isn’t taken into account in current mandated overdevelopment in NJ? Flooding. So towns like Westwood and Hillsdale, Wanaque and Ringwood and Mahwah and Oakland are being forced to build significantly more units of housing under “affordable housing” lawsuits as these same communities are spending millions of dollars to acquire flood prone properties and return them to their natural state to prevent flooding. We need to stop this insanity. Call every Bergen and Passaic County legislator and demand they take action to preserve our communities. #saveourenvironment