HUNTERDON: County’s towns prepare to meet COAH’s deadline

Lambertville, Stockton and West Amwell set to go

By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
   Lambertville, Stockton and West Amwell all are prepared to meet the state’s Dec. 31 deadline to submit an affordable housing plan for approval.
   Lambertville is still hammering out details of how to meet its state-set “projected growth share” by 2018. The City Council is expected to discuss and vote on specific details of the city’s plan during a special meeting Monday.
   The projected growth share is the number of new affordable housing units that must be in place within 10 years.
   COAH, the state’s Council on Affordable Housing, calculated that Lambertville’s growth share was initially 108 according to a stringent formula in COAH’s “third round” of rules adopted in September.
   However, the city’s growth share later was revised to 33. With credit for rental units and the Heritage Village over-55 rentals, the total of new units needed is actually 11, City Clerk Lori Buckelew said.
   West Amwell’s projected growth share is 52 units.
   Although the township is prepared to meet the Dec. 31 deadline, Deputy Mayor Ron Shapella said COAH’s projected growth share for the township fails to take into account the rural nature of West Amwell.
   ”It doesn’t take into account the township doesn’t have jobs and doesn’t have the public transportation that people with low incomes need,” he said. “If low-income people are going to move here, where are they going to find jobs and how are they going to get to those jobs?”
   West Amwell relied on accessory apartments to meet past COAH obligations. “In the third round, we’ll rely more on group homes,” Mr. Shapella said.
   In the meantime, Mr. Shapella expressed hope the Legislature or the courts would step in to give rural towns like West Amwell more time to solve such dilemmas.
   Stockton’s projected growth share is 12 new units and four rehabilitated units.
   The Borough Council approved the town’s affordable housing plan Dec. 15.
   The plan calls for up to 10 accessory apartments and a four-bedroom “supportive needs and special needs housing” unit.
   THE COUNCIL on Local Mandates anticipates it will hold a hearing in February to determine whether the COAH regulations are an unfunded mandate.
   An amendment to the state constitution in 1995 says if the state makes a ruling, the state must pay for it. That amendment led to the creation of the council in 1996.
   The council is a powerful entity, acting independently of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government. It has the authority to determine whether a state regulation or law constitutes an unfunded mandate.
   The council sent a letter to state officials Dec. 17 advising them that the council is reviewing a complaint filed by Medford Township.
   The attorney general must file an answer on behalf of the state by Jan. 6.