WESTWOOD—Montvale Mayor Michael Ghassali told area business leaders Jan. 21 that towns across the Pascack Valley are being forced into major land-use decisions on a fast deadline, one day after a federal judge rejected a request to pause implementation of New Jersey’s new affordable housing law.
Speaking Wednesday at the packed Greater Pascack Valley Chamber of Commerce annual Breakfast with the Mayors at Tavern at The Iron Horse, Ghassali said he received word the night before that U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi ruled against his paying coalition of municipalities, Local Leaders for Responsible Planning, seeking to block or delay the law’s Fourth Round requirements.
“I got a call from our housing attorney that the federal judge ruled against us, asking for a stay for the March 15 deadline,” Ghassali said, adding that the decision changed what he had planned to say at the breakfast.
Ghassali is the lead figure in LLRP, a coalition of municipalities challenging the 2024 law, A4/S50. He told attendees that towns must still meet the March 15 deadline to adopt and file zoning ordinances and housing plans, even as his coalition prepares to continue its legal fight.
He said the judge found local officials lacked standing to bring a constitutional challenge, and concluded that even if the 2024 law were struck down, municipal obligations would still exist under “nearly 50 years of New Jersey Supreme Court decisions.”
Ghassali reiterated his argument that the state’s regional formula is outdated and unfair to suburban towns, saying Region One includes “Jersey City, Hoboken, West New York, and other municipalities with extensive transit, jobs, and infrastructure,” and that if certain “exempt urban aid municipalities” were held to the same calculation, Montvale’s obligation would drop by “approximately 74%.”
He said Montvale plans to appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, “and then if we fail there, we’ll take it to Alito; we’ll go as far as you can.”
By Alito he meant the U.S. Supreme Court. A case decided in federal district court can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which covers New Jersey. After that, parties may petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. For the Third Circuit, that justice is Samuel Alito.
‘Just a nightmare…’
At the breakfast, Ghassali framed the fourth-round obligations as a generational turning point, warning of high-density redevelopment pressure and arguing that local governments are being forced to act under the threat of losing legal protections.
“We as mayors, by March 15, we are going to be signing these rezoning ordinances with a gun to our heads,” he said. “We don’t want to do it. We will have to do it. If we don’t do it, we will lose our immunity and — disaster.”
Ghassali emphasized that he supports affordable housing, but criticized what he described as a system that prioritizes density and market-rate development.
“We’re for affordable housing. We’ve been building,” he said. “But the high density is just a nightmare.”
Ghassali describes LLRP as a broad municipal coalition. In Bergen County, he has said participating towns include Allendale, Closter, Englewood, Franklin Lakes, Hillsdale, Montvale, New Milford, Norwood, Old Tappan, Oradell, River Vale, Washington Township, Westwood and Wyckoff, among others statewide.
In a Jan. 19 Facebook post, Ghassali alleged that “several” municipalities were “misleading their residents into believing they are part of the coalition opposing high-density housing,” calling that “bad leadership.”
Fair Share: most towns are moving forward
For its part, Fair Share Housing Center, the Cherry Hill-based nonprofit that litigates affordable housing cases statewide, and an intervenor in the matter, cheered Quraishi’s ruling dismissing the federal lawsuit and denying a motion for a stay that would have delayed the law’s implementation.
“The courts have been crystal clear — New Jersey’s affordable housing law is here to stay,” Fair Share Executive Director Adam Gordon said in a Jan. 20 statement shared with Pascack Press.
The decision follows a series of setbacks for the same coalition in state court, including a September 2025 ruling by Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert T. Lougy dismissing similar claims “with prejudice,” Fair Share said.
Gordon disputes the assertion that urban municipalities face no affordable housing requirements, saying that cities often carry large rehabilitation obligations because of existing older housing stock and long-standing affordability needs.
“One claim raised in the lawsuit — that urban municipalities do not have affordable housing obligations — is simply false,” Fair Share said in its statement on the federal case.
Fair Share also said roughly 380 municipalities developed compliant housing plans by the Dec. 31 deadline to resolve challenges through mediation, calling the participation level “unprecedented.”
The renewed legal clash
The renewed legal clash comes as Mikie Sherrill begins her term as New Jersey’s 57th governor amid broad pressure, and with zeal, to address affordability and housing costs.
On Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, Fair Share urged Sherrill’s administration to take “bold action” on housing affordability, including ending diversions from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, reforming zoning laws to allow more housing options, streamlining permitting and regulatory processes, expanding support for first-time and first-generation homebuyers, and strengthening tenant protections.
Gordon, who served on Sherrill’s transition team, said the organization looked forward to working with the new administration “to translate those commitments into action.”
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