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NJ builders group will sue dozens of towns trying to cut affordable housing obligations

The New Jersey Builders Association is pushing back against more than a quarter of the state's municipalities that have tried to lower their state-mandated affordable housing construction quotas by submitting their own alternate calculations. The NJBA is in the process of filing legal challenges against 159 municipalities that the trade group says have filed complaints with the state Department of Community Affairs seeking to lower the housing obligations the agency released last year. The DCA calculations represent each town's current needs for more affordable dwellings, as estimated by the state, and the total units they need to build over the next 10 years. In a statement, the builders group said litigation was "necessary as this is matter of statewide importance and imperative that we continue in our opposition to the municipal playbook of obfuscation and delay." Municipalities had a deadline of Jan. 31 to accept the DCA numbers − which would provide them immunity from developer lawsuits − or to submit their own versions if they object to the state's calculations. A nonprofit entity, the NJBA works in support of residential and commercial builders, developers, remodelers, subcontractors, suppliers, engineers, architects, consultants and other professionals in "the shelter industry," its website states. "We feel compelled to respond in order preserve the nearly 14,000 low- and moderate-income units that these municipalities would seek to simply eliminate despite New Jersey's established and pressing need for such affordable housing opportunities," the association said in announcing the legal challenges. It's just one more legal battle in the state's long-running fight over affordable housing requirements rooted in a landmark set of court decisions known as the Mount Laurel doctrine. Two dozen towns, including several in northern New Jersey, are also in court trying to block a new law intended to remove barriers to such projects. Another interested nonprofit party, New Jersey's Fair Share Housing Center, said that law is having the desired effect so far. 'We're pleasantly surprised that many more municipalities are participating in the process than at any time in the 50-year history of the Mount Laurel Doctrine,' FSHC Executive Director Adam Gordon said. 'This process validates the intent of New Jersey's new affordable housing law − making the process more transparent, reducing litigation costs, and ultimately encouraging more municipalities to participate.' It was a motion filed by the Fair Share Housing Center that led to a 2015 state Supreme Court decision that determined the state's enforcement of the housing mandate had failed. The decision returned primary jurisdiction over affordable housing matters to the trial courts. It also granted the FSHC "interested party" status in all litigation involving affordable housing. Many towns, especially in the more densely-populated communities in North Jersey, have objected to the state's housing dictates and the DCA calculations, which said towns need to open up land for 85,000 affordable units over the next decade. The new law compels towns to address what some say is an affordable housing crisis in New Jersey − state sources estimate the deficit is as high as 200,000 dwellings. But critics say the process fuels overdevelopment, with developers empowered by the courts to build huge residential complexes that commit only 15-20% of their units to affordable housing. For example, a 100-unit apartment may only reduce a town's affordable housing obligation by 15 units "The new mandate places an undue burden on our local budgets, infrastructure, and services," Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali said after the DCA released its numbers last year. He said Montvale's new target of 348 units, "will increase our population by almost 50%." More: Which North Jersey towns met affordable housing deadline? Which are fighting? See the list Ghassali responded on social media to the announcement of the NJBA lawsuits, calling them "a misguided effort driven by self-interest and a lack of understanding of local planning realities." Montvale is one of 26 towns whose joint lawsuit seeks to bring the current court-enforced wave of affordable housing construction to a halt. But a Mercer County judge has ruled against them twice to date. Allendale Bogota Closter Demarest East Rutherford Emerson Englewood Fairview Fort Lee Franklin Lakes Harrington Park Hackensack Hasbrouck Heights Haworth Hillsdale Leonia Lyndhurst Mahwah Montvale New Milford North Arlington Northvale Norwood Oakland Old Tappan Oradell Park Ridge Ramsey Ridgewood River Vale Rutherford Teaneck Tenafly Upper Saddle River Waldwick Boonton Chatham Township Denville East Hanover Florham Park Hanover Harding Jefferson Lincoln Park Montville Morris Township Morristown Mount Olive Mountain Lakes Netcong Parsippany Randolph Rockaway Township Roxbury Washington Bloomingdale Hawthorne Little Falls Pompton Lakes Totowa Woodland Park Franklin Green Hardyston Hopatcong Sparta Stanhope Vernon This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ builders group will sue towns over affordable housing rule