MONTVALE—A growing coalition of nearly 40 towns in four counties has expressed interest in joining Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali’s efforts to file a lawsuit—first in state court and then in federal court—to challenge the state’s affordable housing obligations. The lawsuit aims to require the 62 towns in New Jersey currently exempt from affordable housing obligations to do their “fair share.”
Ghassali told us that his effort to rally towns statewide behind an initiative to distribute affordable obligations equally among all New Jersey towns is gaining momentum. The next significant step involves hiring a special affordable housing counsel to represent the towns this week.
Montvale advertised in mid-June on the State League of Municipalities website to hire a special affordable housing attorney to assist in filing the lawsuit. Applications are due to the town by Tuesday, July 2, said the mayor.
Ghassali hopes to get at least 62 towns involved in the lawsuit, though the more, the better, stressing that affordable obligations should be “shared” by all New Jersey towns.
He explained that there are 62 “urban aid” municipalities exempt from affordable housing obligations, including towns such as Hoboken, Jersey City, and Hackensack. He expressed confusion over why these towns have no affordable obligations, noting that he might not be able to afford to live in some towns currently excluded from these obligations.
Other exempt Bergen County towns include Ridgefield, Cliffside Park, Garfield, and Lodi. Ghassali posted the full list of “urban aid” municipalities on his mayoral Facebook page.
“Ours (affordable obligations) would be lessened if the others had obligations,” Ghassali said, referring to the 62 towns not required to provide affordable housing.
In mid-June, Ghassali posted on Facebook, “The coalition of NJ towns for a fairly distributed affordable housing obligation among all towns in the state continues to grow, with towns committing from four counties so far.”
He continued, “This is going to be a coalition of 62 towns going to federal court. Each town is committing to $10,000 this year and $10,000 next year, totaling an overall budget of $1.2 million.”
Ghassali noted, “We are asking to include the 62 towns that don’t have any affordable housing obligation to be included, lessening the overall obligations for the rest of us. We want each town in the state to have its fair share of the affordable housing obligation.”
While 40 or more towns had expressed interest and support, Ghassali mentioned that only about a half-dozen towns appeared firmly committed to funding the lawsuit. He said hiring a special counsel should help steer more towns to commit funding, noting that a sample resolution for a town council to approve and join the legal challenge would be coming soon.
Ghassali, a three-term mayor and former candidate for Congress’s Fifth District in 2019, has previously touted his success in settling Montvale’s affordable housing obligations early in 2017, avoiding protracted, expensive, and unsuccessful affordable housing legal battles like those in Englewood Cliffs and Park Ridge.
“All we want is our fair share obligation,” Ghassali told us. “The state wants us to build over 200,000 affordable units (statewide) in the next 10 years. Now about 500 towns will get (affordable) obligations and 62 will not. We want it split among all the towns.”
Ghassali said feedback from mayors and public officials about the lawsuit has been “100 percent positive,” with “some even asking me where to send the check.” He plans to meet with a group of Morris County mayors to seek their participation.
“We have a number of towns already committed to joining us and more in discussion, as far as central and south Jersey,” the mayor told us. He urged any mayor or council interested in joining Montvale’s future lawsuit to contact him at his borough email, mghassali@montvaleboro.org.
The mayor said the plan is to file a lawsuit in the next couple of months. However, he stressed Montvale would continue to meet required state deadlines to comply with the new affordable housing law, rather than risk a builder’s remedy lawsuit, which might allow a builder to construct a large multifamily complex to satisfy the borough’s unmet affordable housing obligation.
Officials from New Jersey’s Department of Community Affairs said they plan to provide numbers for municipal affordable obligations to all towns by October 20, as required under the new affordable housing law approved by Gov. Phil Murphy in March.