PASCACK VALLEY—The Pascack Valley’s 10 mayors sent a letter to a Senate committee recently to express their support for a bill that calls for a “pause,” until July 1, 2028, on implementing a fourth round of statewide affordable housing obligations, set to begin July 2025.
The bill, S3739/A5402, was introduced in the state Senate on March 30 by Republican Sen. Anthony Bucco, (25th District), and referred to the Community and Urban Affairs Committee. As of May 3, it had not yet been introduced in the Assembly.
State Sen. Holly Schepisi, (R-River Vale), a co-sponsor of the Senate bill, told Pascack Press, “I wholeheartedly agree with our local mayors: delaying the start of the fourth round of affordable housing obligations is the most practical solution. We need to start evaluating future rounds and obligations on a regional need basis rather than a municipal level while also understanding the interplay of new NJDEP initiatives pertaining to flood mitigation rules, the new Environmental Justice Law, new initiatives from the New Jersey Highlands Council, as well as ever changing regulations from the EPA, with affordable housing obligations.”
PVMA President John Kramer, Old Tappan’s mayor, said his town approved a resolution endorsing the bill at its May 1 council meeting. He said other towns were urged to pass resolutions of support.
As of May 2, Hillsdale and Montvale had passed resolutions.
The PVMA consists of the mayors of Emerson, Hillsdale, Montvale, Park Ridge, Old Tappan, Oradell, River Vale, Township of Washington, Westwood, and Woodcliff Lake.
Asked to respond to the mayors’ letter and legislative efforts to delay the upcoming 2025 affordable housing round, Fair Share Housing Center spokesperson Martina Manicastri said these efforts continue the towns’ “longtime practices of exclusion.”
“Delaying the Fourth Round until July 2028 is ignorant of the needs of working families all across the state, but particularly in the towns represented in this letter which are historically exclusionary and deeply racially and economically segregated. This proposed legislation is a direct attempt to recreate a ‘gap’ period. The previous gap period was a primary factor in the creation of today’s affordable housing inventory shortage. Creating another gap period despite the exorbitant need we have for housing in New Jersey, means abandoning the people of this state when they need the Legislature most,” said Manicastri.
She said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the housing crisis in our state, leading to unprecedented rental costs and high eviction rates. In fact, a recent study found that North Jersey is the most difficult place in the entire nation to find an apartment, with 12 prospective renters competing for the same one unit … It is clear that towns seeking to delay Fourth Round obligations under the guise of concern for their residents’ well-being are really just seeking to extend their longtime practices of exclusion.”
Since 2015, the state Supreme Court has required towns to work with state Superior Courts, and Fair Share Housing Center as an intervenor, to determine a local “fair share” of affordable units.
Previously, the Council on Affordable Housing, created under the state’s Fair Share Housing Act of 1985, helped determine local affordable obligations. However, the Supreme Court declared the council “moribund” in 2015 due to inaction and its failure to determine affordable housing obligations, and assigned all affordable obligations to Superior Courts.
The mayors cite economic impacts from the Covid pandemic, inflation, and the so-called “builder’s remedy” lawsuits as problems that require a delay in a fourth round of affordable housing.
“The bill (S3739) preserves the currently established third round obligations for an additional three years. This would give all parties additional time to assess the efficacy and local impacts of the third round agreements. It would also give the Legislature and the Governor time to reestablish their proper roles in balancing the needs of all stakeholders in this process,” the mayors say.
“New Jersey’s municipalities are still sorting out the ripple effects of Covid lockdowns on their tax base and land use plans. Post-Covid record inflation has driven construction, debt financing and service costs to levels that incentivize builders to overreach. Many are demanding more residential units than the infrastructure of our fully developed communities can safely and responsibly absorb,” say the mayors.
They continue, “The builders’ ‘density bonus’ produces a whale of a market rate development by leveraging a barnacle of affordable units as justification to override local zoning limits. These limits are not exclusionary. They are proportional to the varying facts on the ground in each of our communities and were intended to allow the community to grow in a manner consistent with reasonable and carefully designed standards. To meet the number of obligated affordable units using this protocol, some of our towns would have to build new apartment units equal to the number of existing single-family homes.”
Moreover, the mayors note, “Common sense, public health, safety (and) welfare, limited infrastructure, and fiscal realities suggest a pause is necessary. Working through the third round obligations requires more time than had been allotted given the cascading effects of Covid. Extending that obligation to 2028 will present a clearer picture of how each of the towns fared in meeting their goals. It might also reveal the hyper-local environmental and infrastructure challenges each of our municipalities face in achieving those goals.”
They add, “We should work towards appropriately meeting our third-round commitments before adding yet another layer of unrealistic allocations — allocations that disregard the structural limitations, costs, and ancillary impacts on our already overburdened taxpayers.”
Westwood, Hillsdale mayors speak
We reached out to the mayors for comment on the future of affordable housing mandates. Hillsdale’s John Ruocco and Westwood’s Ray Arroyo shared their views.
Ruocco said, “Get the overloaded court system out of the administrative process. Reexamine how one determines the appropriate number of required affordable housing units. The legislature needs to own up to this responsibility. De-link the building of affordable housing units from the building of market rate units so that a town doesn’t end up with an excessive number of apartment units. Incentivize builders to produce affordable housing closer to where potential applicants work. Allow greater preference for locals who qualify for affordable housing in their own town.”
Arroyo said, “This (builder’s remedy) practice incentivizes builders to pursue massive, overly dense, market rate apartment complexes, using a garnish of affordable units as leverage. Residential multiple-dwelling developments, of the magnitudes contemplated, require additional infrastructure and services from both the school district and the municipality than is currently budgeted or planned for.”
Historically, most Superior Court approved affordable housing agreements do not take local infrastructure or school district costs into account when approving a settlement.
“The costs incurred to improve these services result in higher local taxes, effectively driving market rate rents higher again and begging the question: Is this approach really making New Jersey more affordable? If your income is just above the ‘moderate’ level that qualifies you to enter the lottery for an affordable unit, how do you absorb the upward pressure of these ancillary costs? Move to Pennsylvania?” asked Arroyo.
Arroyo urged the Legislature to begin the process of reviewing affordable housing regulations and how affordable “need” numbers are determined, especially with many towns fully developed and lacking vacant or developable land for such housing.
“Before we are required to consider additional obligations, there needs to be a better understanding of the totality of local and regional impacts. Empowering even greater leverage, and unplanned change, in our communities does not serve our constituents well,” Arroyo said.