BRICK – In March 2024, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a new framework for determining and enforcing townships’ affordable housing obligations under the NJ Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel Doctrine and the State’s Fair Housing Act that establishes affordable housing plans.
Every town in the state is required to provide a certain number of affordable housing units based on complex calculations. This stemmed from a lawsuit when the town of Mount Laurel was accused of zoning poor people out.
The new law requires that the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) perform calculations for what is now the fourth round, and produce non-binding estimates of fair share obligations by October 2024.
The DCA determined that Brick Township’s obligation was to rehabilitate 149 units and said there is a prospective need for new construction of 360 units. But since the recommendation is non-binding, Brick is allowed to prove that they have no way to provide that number.
The township achieved a settlement agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center regarding the township’s fourth round prospective need obligations for affordable housing units through mediation with the Fair Housing Center, said Council Vice President Vince Minichino during a recent council meeting.
Through a resolution, the parties agree that the township’s prospective need obligation is 322 units, however the council said that that number may be further adjusted based on the lack of vacant land, he said.
Mayor Lisa Crate addressed the subject during her “Mayor’s Minute” broadcast in April.
“We are…NOT…building 322 affordable housing units here in Brick Township,” she said. “We simply do not have the land for it – we can all agree on that.”
The affordable housing resolution recently passed by the governing body was just to acknowledge – not agree to – the state’s recommended number, the mayor said.
“We had to do that in order to continue to negotiate the number that we believe is 29,” she said. “This is the first step in the settlement process, with us moving forward with our number of 29.”
Acknowledging the 322 units also shields the township from builder’s remedy lawsuits, the mayor said.
Participating in affordable housing is voluntary, but not participating leaves municipalities at risk for the “builder’s remedy” lawsuit.
If a town does not have a certified affordable housing plan filed, a builder can sue. The town’s ability to plan where and how affordable housing will be developed and provided may conflict with their Master Plan. The “builders remedy” is the only way of enforcing affordable housing because there is no other means of enforcement.
“That lawsuit would take away our zoning power and would allow developers to come in and build whatever they want,” Mayor Crate said. “We’re not willing to do that.”
The fourth round starts on July 1 and ends on June 30, 2035, so municipalities have 10 years to comply with affordable housing obligations.
“We are trying to do this in a way that is right for Brick Township,” Mayor Crate said.
According to township affordable housing attorney Robin La Bue, the settlement is not “caving;” it is the acceptance of the obligation that the Legislature imposed on all towns in NJ.
In the third round of affordable housing, which was from 2015-2025, Brick Township had a prospective need obligation of 620 affordable housing units, La Bue wrote in a statement.
“However, the township performed what is called a ‘vacant land analysis,’ which measures the amount of vacant developable land within the township which is used to calculate how much development is actually possible,” he said.
“Following that analysis, we came up with a realistic development potential of 105 units [in the third round] and that is what we planned for.”
The same analysis was used for this fourth round, resulting in 29 units, he said. The number 322 only comes into play for planning for the township’s “unmet need” which is the units Brick does not have the space to build.
“The township will plan for the construction of 29 affordable housing units and adopt overlay ordinances that will encourage the redevelopment of existing properties into properties with affordable housing over the next 10 years,” La Bue said.
While the mayor and administration continue negotiation, the opposition said there needs to be a firmer hand.
Madeline Colagiovanni Iannarone, Board of Education president and candidate for mayor, was offered a chance to comment by this newspaper.
“These mandates were made possible by a series of Mount Laurel rulings starting in 1975, when New Jersey’s liberal Supreme Court forced every town to provide its so-called ‘fair share’ of affordable housing, regardless of the damage to local communities,” she said. “Just like how the Democrats have destroyed our school system, they’ve used the courts and Trenton to flood towns like Brick with overdevelopment.”
“I fully support (Republican gubernatorial candidate) Bill Spadea’s proposal to redefine what counts as affordable housing, including motel rooms, nursing home rooms, and even jail cells, to stop this madness. Brick is already overdeveloped, and our roads and infrastructure can’t take more. Affordable housing mandates belong in cities with mass transit, not in suburban towns like ours,” she said.
