Would allow up to 25 percent of a municipality’s affordable housing units to be made available to local residents, employees and emergency service volunteers
By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
The Hopewell Township Committee voted 4-0 Monday night to request the state Legislature to amend New Jersey’s Fair Housing Act to provide municipalities with the authority to establish an “occupancy preference.”
That would allow up to 25 percent of a municipality’s affordable housing units to be made available to local residents, employees and emergency service volunteers.
The committee was supported by Michael Chipowsky, chairman of the township’s Board of Fire Commissioners and a former township chief of police.
”Our emergency service volunteers are a younger group, and we don’t really have affordable housing here, so they’re forced to go to other communities to live,” the former chief said.
Mr. Chipowsky added that to fill with paid personnel positions now occupied by volunteers would be “prohibitively expensive.”
The township has filed with the state council on affordable housing a plan that calls for construction of more than 400 units of affordable housing by 2018.

