- by: Friends of STQP
- recipient: New Jersey Residents
- New Jersey Affordable Housing… #care2 https://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/60622121
New Jersey is….
1st in the nation for highest property taxes
3rd most expensive state to live in
5th in the nation for highest per student school spending
5th in the nation for highest state income tax
6th most expensive state to purchase a home
#1 most densely populated state in the nation with 1,216 people per square mile
Land is at a premium and developers want to cash in and develop every last inch
FACT: Renting or owning a home should be affordable to NJ residents who qualify, but not at the expense of local ordinance that is contrary to NJ municipal land use law.
FACT: NJ’s affordable housing (AH) mandates are not working and our government is not listening to the voice of the people – who support AH but want it to be implemented fairly, honestly and sensibly.
FACT: The current pace of proposed AH development is not reasonable or sustainable and will be catastrophic to towns, schools, volunteer emergency services, infrastructure and to NJ’s natural resources, ecosystems, waterways and environment.
What We Want
1) We believe municipal AH obligations should not be determined by the courts and that there should be clear, statewide guidelines to follow.
2) “Builder’s remedy” lawsuits should be eliminated as a mechanism used to satisfy a municipality’s AH obligations.
3) We believe the laws governing AH must consider the impact on our schools, roads, traffic and congestion, emergency services and the preservation of open space and our quality of life.
4) NJ’s environment must be protected from sprawl and overdevelopment; AH should not be built on environmentally-sensitive land or land that has been remediated from contamination.
5) AH that is built should not “expire” and should count towards all future AH rounds and obligations.
6) We, the residents of NJ, seek to disband the Fair Share Housing Center (FSHC) who takes our hard-earned tax dollars to enrich the wallets of lawyers and developers at the expense of NJ’s future.
7) We, the people, demand a bi-partisan review of AH and legislative reform to make NJ’s affordable housing fair.
We are calling for reasonable ways to address the current problems to enact clear legislative guidelines that will: 1) ensure that AH benefits those in need; 2) implement a regional or statewide approach; 3) expand the ways in which municipalities can address their fair share of affordable housing—FAIRLY!
