PASCACK VALLEY AREA, Bergen County, N.J.—As our towns, like municipalities statewide, rushed to meet the June 30 deadline to file their fourth-round affordable housing plans, a dispute over the meaning of a key provision could send many of those plans back to the drawing board.
Jag Davies, spokesperson for Fair Share Housing Center (FSHC), tells Pascack Press that the nonprofit is reviewing recently submitted Housing Element and Fair Share Plans (HEFSPs), including how municipalities are addressing at least 25% of “unmet need” for affordable housing—as required under the 2024 housing law A4/S50 when a town receives a Vacant Land Adjustment (VLA).
All eight Pascack Valley towns received VLAs, reducing their formal affordable housing obligations based on limited land availability. But under the new law, any town receiving such an adjustment must identify and rezone parcels likely to redevelop for at least 25% of the adjusted obligation.
What’s disputed is what the “adjusted prospective need” means. Most local planners interpreted it to mean Realistic Development Potential (RDP)—the number of units a town can reasonably build now. That interpretation results in much lower numbers than if the 25% is taken from unmet need, which accounts for the full obligation minus RDP.
But according to Davies, towns relying on the RDP figure are misreading the law.
“The law (A4/S50) is very clear that towns need to address 25% of unmet need. If not, they would be out of compliance and at risk of being challenged,” Davies said. “Our position is that the 25% is applicable to unmet need because the law refers to future parcels and zoning—characteristics of unmet need, not RDP.”
Davies added that unless exceptional circumstances apply, redevelopment zoning cannot rely on sites already used to satisfy unmet need in prior rounds. Towns that say they lack parcels must pursue inclusionary overlay zoning or identify sites for future 100% affordable projects.
Fair Share Housing Center is a Cherry Hill–based nonprofit that advocates for the creation of affordable housing across New Jersey. Founded in the wake of the state Supreme Court’s landmark Mount Laurel decisions, the organization works to enforce the constitutional obligation of towns to provide their “fair share” of affordable housing. FSHC regularly participates in litigation, reviews municipal housing plans, and pushes for policies that expand access to affordable homes for low- and moderate-income residents
Hillsdale example
In Hillsdale, where the fourth-round unmet need is 186 units, a strict reading of the law would require zoning for 47 affordable units—25% of that total. But Hillsdale’s adopted HEFSP addresses only five units total, based on a 4-unit RDP plus a buffer.
Mayor Michael Sheinfield acknowledged the ambiguity, saying the borough is acting in good faith. “We’re moving forward based on the best information we have available,” he told Pascack Press. “Until we hear otherwise, that’s how we have to operate.”
In an October 2024 Bergen County League of Municipalities meeting, Sheinfield pressed planner Joseph Burgis of Burgis Associates on the issue. Burgis acknowledged the need for state clarification.
Legal language
The controlling provision in A4/S50 reads:
“Any municipality that receives an adjustment of its prospective need obligations for the fourth round or subsequent rounds based on a lack of vacant land shall… identify sufficient parcels likely to redevelop… to address at least 25 percent of the prospective need obligation that has been adjusted, and adopt realistic zoning that allows for such adjusted obligation, or demonstrate why the municipality is unable to do so.”
FSHC argues this clause clearly refers to unmet need, not RDP. While the courts have yet to definitively rule, the issue is likely to be settled through pending litigation and objections, which are due by Aug. 31.
Developers and advocacy groups—including FSHC and the New Jersey Builders Association—have filed challenges to more than 200 towns’ affordable obligation numbers adopted by a Jan. 31 deadline. Some towns have sought June 30 deadline extensions due to ongoing negotiations. HEFSPs filed in Bergen County can be viewed here.