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N.J. senator: An alternative plan to Court’s ruling on affordable housing

CBD high density housing

N.J. senator: An alternative plan to Court’s ruling on affordable housing | Opinion
Posted on January 27, 2017 at 10:44 AM

By Christopher Bateman

Providing enough affordable housing for people in need is one of the most important issues we face in this state. The constant string of misguided court decisions has done nothing but create confusion for our towns.

Last week, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a ruling that could be devastating to taxpayers.

The court essentially overturned a July 2016 Appellate Court decision and ruled that the calculation of present need must be expanded to include obligations created during the “gap period” of 1999-2015. The court determined that a new, undefined “analytic component” should be used to determine if the needs created during the gap period still exist today.

Since its first intrusive decision more than 40 years ago, the court has been infamous for creating this kind of confusion. As a result, municipalities have spent far too much time and money in court battling over how to determine and satisfy their court-imposed “fair share.”

https://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/01/nj_senator_an_alternative_plan_to_courts_ruling_on.html