EMERSON—The Borough Council unanimously approved a fourth round affordable obligation of 167 prospective need units, reducing their state-allocated obligation by 14 units and reserving the right to further reduce its final number based on a vacant land adjustment, and other factors that might further lower the “realistic development” number.
Due to some technical difficulties, the audio from the Jan. 28 meeting’s YouTube video could not be heard, and it was unclear if the situation could be fixed. However, the resolution notes that “vacant land and/or durational adjustments” such as water and sewer might further lower the affordable obligation.
All towns were required to adopt an affordable obligation number by Jan. 31, file a declaratory judgment, and post it to the New Jersey Courts website by Feb. 3. (All eight Pascack Valley towns had filed by the deadline.)
Some towns filed numbers for a present (rehabilitation) need as well as a prospective (new construction) need. The fourth round begins this July and runs through June 30, 2035.
It notes the revised obligation number would be available in the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, due to be submitted by June 30. Moreover, an attached analysis from T&M Associates delves into why the 181 number was lowered to 167, due to errors in the DCA’s land capacity factor, which is part of the state’s affordable formula.
Mayor Danielle DiPaola told us, “The Borough’s elected officials along with our professionals are working diligently during this ongoing process of round 4 of New Jersey’s affordable housing regulations in order to be sure that the number we are ultimately deemed is fair and does not overburden our infrastructure and municipal services.”
As for the meeting’s technical difficulties, she added, “We had a very disappointing technical issue and we did not know until Wednesday morning that there was no audio. So very sorry,” she wrote.
According to Borough Affordable Housing Planner Caroline Reiter, T&M Associates, the DCA estimated 13.913 acres of available land in town, which created a land capacity factor of 0.70%.
Reiter said eight of the properties that DCA had included “did not represent a realistic potential for future development” and were removed from the calculation. That reduced the land capacity factor to 10.78 acres and the land capacity factor to 0.55%.
That factor was then added to income capacity factor and equalized nonresidential value factor, and divided by three, and totaled an average of 0.60%. This average factor is then applied to Region 1’s total prospective need of 27,743 units, which means Emerson’s revised obligation is 167 units, explained Reiter. Emerson is in the Region 1 housing zone.
“Of the eight properties that were removed from the Land Capacity Inventory, four are owned by Suez (Veolia North America), two are narrow or unusually shaped, one is too small for development, and one is a House of Worship,” states the T&M report.
The T&M report notes Emerson “will most likely” use a Vacant Land Adjustment…the process involves a review of vacant land to calculate a realistic development potential (RDP) and unmet need,” writes Reiter.
It notes the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, due by June 30, will list “completed, planned and proposed affordable housing mechanisms” to meet Emerson’s prior (Third) and upcoming (Fourth) round of affordable obligations. Much of Emerson’s third round obligation has yet to be constructed as part of the 147-unit “Emerson Station” mixed-use, inclusionary project which includes 29 (22 onsite and seven offsite) affordable units.