By Nick Norlen, Staff Writer
After railing against the proposed Council on Affordable Housing obligations for being “crazy” and “unachievable,” the Princeton Township Committee decided Monday that it will submit a plan anyway.
The consensus reached among committee members during their meeting comes in the midst of consideration by a number of municipalities to simply not comply with the new rules and instead risk facing builder’s remedy lawsuits and other potential consequences.
The Township Committee’s discussion was led by its affordable housing consultant Elizabeth McKenzie, who presented a report detailing the township’s three-part obligation under the new regulations slated to be adopted in May.
Though she said the township’s obligation for 47 rehabilitation units could be easily met and that the prior round obligation of 330 units has been fully satisfied, she called the projected third-round obligation of 382 units “unfathomably high.”
”I think the third round obligation is astronomical,” she said. “I think it’s the result of some bad data, some old data, and a not very well designed methodology.”
COAH’s newly revised rules are aimed at fulfilling its declared statewide affordable housing need of 115,000 units, estimated using a growth-share approach with affordable housing needs measured as a percentage of residential and non-residential growth from 2004 to 2018.
Scheduled to become effective on June 2, the new regulations call for one affordable unit for every five residential units, and one affordable unit for every 16 jobs — a change from previous ratios of one in nine units and one unit for every 25 jobs. Officials from a number of towns have objected to the methods used to glean the numbers.
Although COAH accepted comments from municipalities on the proposed rules until March 22 — and Regional Planning Director Lee Solow sent a letter highlighting concerns — Ms. McKenzie said she doesn’t expect “to see significant changes in the rules between now and times that they’re adopted.”
For that reason, the township has two options, she said. The first is “opting out of the COAH process, under the premise, I guess, that whatever a developer can do to you in a lawsuit can’t be any worse than what COAH is doing to you.”
The other choice, which Ms. McKenzie recommended, is submitting a plan detailing how the township plans to comply with the requirements.
Though the township would need to see the construction of 112 units to comply with the rules, the good news, Ms. McKenzie said, is that COAH allows municipalities to phase their efforts.
Township Attorney Ed Schmierer, who is a member of the League of Municipalities’ Council on Affordable Housing committee, said he thinks COAH expects towns to “achieve the unachievable — 115,000 new units of affordable housing in less than the next 10 years.” Still, he warned the committee that the township is the type of town that could be targeted by builder’s remedy lawsuits, and, furthermore, that the township would no longer be able to collect development or growth share fees if it opts out of the COAH process.
”We still have to plan for the big number,” he said.
Township Committeeman Chad Goerner agreed.
”I think we need to take a look at how to protect ourselves moving forward,” he said. Mr. Goerner also recommended forming a task force to look at the issue — a suggestion that Ms. McKenzie enthusiastically endorsed.
Though Mayor Phyllis Marchand called the new projections “crazy,” she said complying with the process is the right step for the township for now
