Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Advocates argue that real losers in the political turf war are low- and middle-income families who need a place to live.
Municipalities say they are frozen in place when it comes to affordable housing. With the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) in limbo because of litigation before the state Supreme Court, including a challenge to the governor’s attempt to eliminate the agency, towns say they are left without direction. They're afraid to act on plans to spend money designed to help fix the problem. They fear that if they act, they could be penalized later; but they also fear that, if they fail to act, they will lose the money. And the loser in all of this, housing advocates say, are the thousands of low- and moderate-income New Jerseyans who are left without access to affordable places to live. “There are fears from towns that, if they go ahead and spend…
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Housing advocates and municipalities try to prevent the state from taking their funds.
The battle between the Christie administration and the Fair Share Housing Center continues. This time, the two sides are going to court Friday over as much as $200 million in local affordable housing trust funds. So far, the Appellate Division of Superior Court has been kind to the Cherry Hill-based housing advocates, but this case could be a different story. To help balance the budget, Gov. Chris Christie recommended the state use the trust fund money. The administration appears to be within its legal right to do so, as the law creating the funds—and the developer fees that municipalities levy to subsidize them—specified municipalities had to “commit to spend” the money within four years. The clock strikes midnight on July 17. But as …
Friday, June 15, 2012
Council on Affordable Housing earns reprieve as Supreme Court upholds appellate ruling protecting the state agency
Gov. Chris Christie still cannot make the state Council on Affordable Housing disappear, now that the New Jersey Supreme Court refused to stay an appellate court ruling that barred his action. Monday's ruling is not the last word on the case, since the high court only rejected the stay, not the governor's appeal. But it reaffirms that, at least for now, the council has exclusive jurisdiction over affordable housing regulations in the executive branch. In March, the appellate court found that Christie "exceeded his authority" under the state constitution by attempting to eliminate an agency created by the Legislature. Three months later, though, the council's former link on the state website still redirects to a page announcing "the …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
The Town Council gave more details on their plans to come up with hundreds of housing units to fulfill COAH requirements.
The Woodbridge Planning Board will be considering several amendments Wednesday night to municipal land use laws that would enable the township to start developing more than 900 housing units and finally comply with the NJ Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) requirements. But Tuesday night, the Township Council went into some detail at their meeting about one aspect of the town's plan to meet COAH requirements: a program to snap up foreclosed properties and redevelop them into 300 units of low cost housing. "It's a great program. It's several wins across the board," said Business Administrator Robert Landolfi. The program, to be done in conjunction with the NJ Department of Community Affairs (DCA), would have the town purchase …
Monday, April 23, 2012
Woodbridge is putting forward a plan to meet its old Council on Affordable Housing requirements.
Woodbridge may be on the verge of implementing its long delayed affordable housing plans, required by the state and put off for years by the township. The Woodbridge Planning Board will be voting to implement several amendments to change the land use of the township's Master Plan and enable affordable housing to be built on at least three separate plots in the township. Two of the proposed areas for affordable housing are located in Avenel, and the third is in Woodbridge Proper. The Planning Board will be taking public comment on the proposed amendments at its meeting on Wednesday, April 25, at 7 pm in the council chambers at Town Hall. The purpose of the meeting, according to documents the planning board has on file, is to "provide a …
Friday, March 9, 2012
Court rules that the governor lacks authority to reorganize an independent agency, saying future of Council on Affordable Housing is up to state Legislature.
A state appeals panel has overturned Gov. Chris Christie's reorganization of New Jersey's affordable housing bureaucracy, saying the governor lacked authority to abolish an independent agency. Christie issued an executive order in June 2011 that eliminated the state Council on Affordable Housing and transferred its responsibilities to the state Department of Community Affairs. Christie says he will appeal the decision. "We are obviously disappointed with the court decision, which only perpetuates the nightmare New Jersey has endured for decades with the COAH bureaucracy," said Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak. In its ruling, written by Judge Philip S. Charchman, the appellate panel said that the state Reorganization Act "does not grant …
MrDoughnut
11:32 pm on Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The people with the fat pensions can't see for the trees. They don't want to be the ones with the part time low wages but the times are catching up because the average 40 hour job with OT is gone for the rest of us. The wolves are at the door. more ›