Pennington officials aid NJLM in housing rules fight

Borough Council OK’d a $500 pledge

By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
   Pennington will give the New Jersey State League of Municipalities (NJLM) $500 toward a fund the league is forming for a legal challenge against controversial state affordable housing regulations.
   Giving the money to the NJLM was approved 4-2 by Borough Council after a lengthy discussion Monday night.
   Michael Cerra, NJLM spokesman, said Tuesday that 237 New Jersey municipalities have signed on to help NJLM in its fight.
   COAH (Council on Affordable Housing) stipulates how many units of housing for low- and moderate-income buyers each municipality in the state must build. Pennington’s current obligation is 87 units, officials said.
   Current COAH regulations have municipal governments in an uproar throughout the state. On Monday, Councilman Glen Griffiths called the regulations as applied to Pennington “the most absurd thing I’ve encountered in my adult life.” No one disagreed with him and the tone of the laughter his comment evoked from council and gallery seemed sympathetic.
   Voting in favor of making the contribution to the league were Mr. Griffiths, Eileen Heinzel, Weed Tucker and Catherine Chandler. Voting no were Tom Ogren and Joseph Lawver.
   Messrs. Ogren and Lawver made it clear they regarded the COAH regulations every bit as absurd as did Mr. Griffiths. Like all other members of council, the men who voted no said that, due to the very small amount of vacant land left in the borough, the construction of 87 new units is a sheer physical impossibility from any perspective that seems rational. The only three parcels available are a small abandoned landfill off West Delaware Avenue; a slightly-larger tract in the northern section of the borough owned by Capital Health System, which has been negotiating with the Valley’s YMCA for many months on building a facility for the Y on that land; and a field of a few acres behind the school district’s administration building on South Main Street.
   ”Enough already,” was how Mr. Lawver explained his no vote on any more expenditure that had anything to do with COAH. Like Ms. Chandler, he said the borough should concentrate on providing at least a few units of affordable housing, thus demonstrating a good-faith effort at compliance.
   Mr. Ogren felt the same way. He also had a problem that Pennington’s $500 contribution to the league was the same amount as that being requested of, and made by, much bigger towns.
   ”COAH is a freight train out of control,” said Mr. Griffiths, who noted that over 220 towns in the state have agreed to pledge funds to the League for its effort. “It is a very pointed sword of Damocles that is being pointed over our heads. A lawsuit would be more than a legal challenge. It would be an open dispute in the court of public opinion.”
   Mr. Griffiths said that compliance with the current COAH regulations could conceivably cost the borough $11 million. Similar astronomical figures — such as $122 million in Hopewell Township — have been voiced around the state during the past few months.
   The high numbers derive from a state law under which a developer can use a so-called “builder’s remedy” against a municipality that not in compliance with COAH regulations. Under this “remedy,” a builder gets to build a certain number of market-prices units in order to cover the loss at which he or she must build the COAH units. Some officials around the state have said that a builder’s remedy could allow for construction of as many as eight market-price units for each affordable unit.
   For Pennington with a COAH obligation of 87 units, such a builder’s remedy would translate to 696 market–price units on top of the affordable units.
   ”The COAH rules currently require Pennington, through its taxpayers if necessary, to provide 67 affordable dwelling units . . . in addition to the 20 affordable units committed to by the borough as part of its second round certification by COAH or risk having its Master Plan and Zone Plan nullified by court decree (known as a builder’s remedy),” stated Cindy Coppola, borough planner. “As a result of the court decision, a developer could then build new high-density housing in Pennington, including high rise buildings, and still leave Pennington taxpayers responsible for additional COAH units,” she continued.
   ”Providing affordable housing in Pennington for our teachers, firefighters, police and other dedicated professionals is the right thing to do,” said Mayor Tony Persichilli. “In fact, Pennington is already committed to providing 20 affordable units under a previous COAH-approved plan. Our current plan would integrate these affordable units with commercial and nonprofit developments designed to provide retail and recreational services for all residents in a manner consistent with the borough’s character,” he added.
   According to a Tuesday news release, Pennington officials say the proposed COAH amendments were not approved until Sept. 22 and won’t be published until Oct. 20. They are subject to continuing revision by the state Attorney General’s office. “Despite this lack of clarity, they require Pennington and all other New Jersey municipalities to file a plan by Dec. 31, 2008 that includes legally binding agreements with builders and financial supporters.”
   ”It just seems that no one is talking, let alone listening to one another at the state level,” remarked Mr. Tucker. “The current COAH rules are a mish-mash of legislative, executive and judicial actions taken over the summer that directed COAH to develop a 1,000 page set of rules. It all happened so fast that no one seems to have stepped back and looked at the big picture. We think the NJLM lawsuit gives Pennington strength in numbers and puts pressure on all parties to develop an efficient process of achieving a worthwhile goal,” he added.
   ”As best we can estimate, using COAH’s fuzzy math, the cost to Pennington of satisfying its requirements is at least $11 million. Hopewell Township estimated it will incur $122 million and, across the state, the costs are estimated at $7 billion,” said Mr. Griffiths. “If these rules are enacted, Pennington’s debt would triple, and require a significant tax increase . . . Given these numbers, the $500 cost of joining the NJLM lawsuit is nominal.”
   ”We hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but COAH’s deadline forces Pennington to make major commitments affecting its financial health and quality of life in only 90 days,” said Ms. Heinzel. “Decisions like these take time and all residents should have a voice in them through public hearings,” she added.
   ”What’s also surprising is that these COAH rules do not realistically consider infrastructure issues, including potentially insufficient sewer and water capacity,” said Mr. Lawver.. “In some cases the rules have been shown to contradict existing state regulations from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection regarding land conservation.”
   ”The irony of COAH’s approach to affordable housing is that it’s costing New Jersey taxpayers tens of millions of dollars just to unravel the rules and file the paperwork that COAH demands,” said Mr. Griffiths. “We want to build affordable houses, not piles of paper,” he remarked.