{"id":3391,"date":"2025-04-24T15:49:05","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T15:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/?post_type=press-release&p=3391"},"modified":"2025-04-24T15:49:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T15:49:08","slug":"new-jersey-municipalities-reach-resolutions-on-affordable-housing-calculations","status":"publish","type":"press-release","link":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/press-release\/new-jersey-municipalities-reach-resolutions-on-affordable-housing-calculations\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey Municipalities Reach Resolutions on Affordable Housing Calculations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

FSHC\u2019s Challenges to 68 Municipalities\u2019 Calculations Yield an Additional 5,000 Affordable Homes<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Far More Municipalities Participating in Affordable Housing Process Than Any Time in 50-Year History of Mount Laurel Doctrine<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, New Jersey\u2019s new Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program reached its final determination on how many affordable homes each municipality must allow over the next decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under a new, streamlined procedure established by landmark legislation<\/a> last year, 440 towns adopted resolutions to participate in the state\u2019s \u201cFourth Round\u201d affordable housing planning process \u2014 representing approximately a 25% increase in municipalities participating in the process compared to the Third Round that began in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the 440 towns that have opted to participate in the state\u2019s affordable housing planning process, Fair Share Housing Center\u2019s analysis found that 372 towns\u2019 affordable housing calculations \u2014 85% of the towns participating \u2014 were reasonable and decided not to challenge them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following mediation hearings between Fair Share Housing Center and the 68 remaining towns, all but seven \u2014 Hillsborough, Montvale, North Arlington, Old Bridge, Readington, Toms River, and Warren Township \u2014 reached compromises on their numbers of required affordable housing units. The seven cases not resolved by mediation were decided by the state\u2019s new Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, Fair Share Housing Center\u2019s challenges to 68 towns\u2019 affordable housing calculations led to the recovery of an additional 4,959 affordable homes <\/strong>that would have otherwise been lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the new affordable housing law, all 440 towns must now adopt Municipal Housing Element and Fair Share Plans by June 30, specifying how they will meet their affordable housing needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re thankful that the vast majority of New Jersey\u2019s municipalities are moving forward with creating much-needed affordable housing,\u201d said Adam Gordon, Executive Director at Fair Share Housing Center.<\/strong> \u201cThis process validates the intent of New Jersey’s new affordable housing law \u2014 making the process more transparent, reducing litigation costs, and ultimately encouraging more municipalities to participate.\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the start of the Third Round in 2015, it was a very different story \u2014 towns claimed that 253 municipalities had zero affordable housing obligations for the next decade, leading to scores of lawsuits. Instead of these disputes getting resolved in a matter of months, as they have this year under NJ\u2019s new law, it took four years for courts to resolve towns\u2019 affordable housing responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In New Jersey, the constitutional obligation for each municipality to allow its fair share of affordable homes, known as the Mount Laurel Doctrine<\/a>, is recalculated every 10 years in cycles known as Rounds. Each municipality\u2019s obligations are calculated by looking at factors in various regions of the state \u2014 such as job growth, existing affordability, and the growth of low- and moderate-income households \u2014 which determines an individualized requirement for affordable housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the Fourth Round starting this year, NJ’s new affordable housing law <\/a>streamlined the affordable housing development process and codified the methodology used to determine each municipality\u2019s obligations over the next decade. The updated framework safeguards towns\u2019 discretion in deciding how they want to fulfill their fair share obligation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Jersey\u2019s law gives towns a wide variety of tools to create affordable housing in the way they prefer. Municipalities can choose from a range of options<\/a> \u2014 such as 100% affordable housing, mixed-income housing, supportive housing for seniors or people with disabilities, or repurposing abandoned malls or offices. The recently-enacted law and associated bills give towns additional tools like new bonuses, financing options, and credits to meet their affordable housing responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new law also requires more transparent information to be shared with the public at each stage of the process, from adoption of initial plans to what is built and what trust funds are available to non-profit developers to create and rehabilitate affordable housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Municipalities in New Jersey are not required to directly fund affordable housing projects through local taxpayer dollars. Instead, these developments are often supported through a combination of state programs, subsidies, and developer contributions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the inception of the Mount Laurel Doctrine 50 years ago, it has led to the creation of over 75,000 affordable homes \u2014 including over 25,000 new affordable homes since 2015 alone \u2014 and over 130,000 middle-class homes. Today, more than 400,000 New Jerseyans live in homes created through the Mount Laurel Doctrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNew Jersey\u2019s affordable housing law was passed with bipartisan support from a broad coalition of elected officials and community stakeholders across the state,\u201d added Gordon.<\/strong> \u201cWhen we embrace affordable housing, we are investing in the future of our communities \u2014 creating stronger local economies and vibrant neighborhoods, while addressing social and economic problems at their root.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FSHC\u2019s Challenges to 68 Municipalities\u2019 Calculations Yield an Additional 5,000 Affordable Homes Far More Municipalities Participating in Affordable Housing Process Than Any Time in 50-Year History of Mount Laurel Doctrine Yesterday, New Jersey\u2019s new Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program reached its final determination on how many affordable homes each municipality must allow over the next […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3391","press-release","type-press-release","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/3391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/3391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}