By: Michelle McGuinness
Affordable housing units on Old Cranbury Road that were originally scheduled to be complete by December 2007 won’t be done until March 2008, according to Cranbury Housing Association President Mark Berkowsky.
The 20 units on Old Cranbury Road are part of the third round of Cranbury’s mandated affordable housing obligations, which requires the township to account for 160 new units. To help fulfill the requirement, the township is also planning to build between 20 and 40 units on a parcel along Route 130 South near Half Acre Road and one single-family house on Maplewood Avenue. In addition, the township is hoping to pay Perth Amboy $2.8 million through a regional contract agreement to build 80 units. In February, the township received a $29,700 Community Development Block Grant from Middlesex County to help offset that cost.
Mr. Berkowsky said Route 130 units were delayed because of difficulties getting building permits, but construction is under way.
Affordable housing requirements were calculated by estimating how much construction will occur in the township from 2004 to 2014. According to COAH, the township was required to build one affordable housing unit for every eight market-value units constructed during that time. In addition, for every 25 jobs created as measured by new or expanded non-residential construction, the township would need one affordable housing unit.
However, those requirements could change because of a Jan. 25 state appellate court case that invalidated some of COAH’s affordable housing regulations and gave the state six months to revise the regulations.
As of press time, the revisions to the rules were still being worked on by the state. It is still unclear how the rules will effect Cranbury’s current affordable housing obligations and the projects it has already started to meet those obligations.[jde: The deadline (July 25) will have passed by the time this publishes. Clarify if COAH has met this deadline before going to press and clarify whether the new rules it promulgates are retroactive to affect Cranbury’s third round of housing obligations or just future housing obligations.: ]
In the case, the court ruled that municipalities should not be allowed to determine how many units they are required to build and that COAH shouldn’t allow 50 percent of affordable housing in a municipality to be age restricted.
The court also questioned COAH’s methodology. According to the ruling, COAH concluded that 59,156 market-rate units would become affordable through a process called filtering. However, the court found that filtering is not occurring at the rate COAH anticipates.
It also questioned the growth-share methodology. Municipalities are only responsible for local need under COAH’s new guidelines, even though they are supposed to be responsible for some of the region’s need, as well.
COAH’s third round rules were challenged in the court case by the New Jersey Builders Association, Fair State Housing Center, ISP Management Co. Inc. and the Coalition for Affordable Housing and the Environment, according to COAH’s Web site.
Mr. Berkowsky said no one is sure if the revised rules will mean a fewer or greater number of required affordable housing units, but the number will change.
However, Cranbury is moving forward with both of its current affordable housing projects.

