LAWRENCE: Housing plan gets COAH nod

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Lawrence Township became the first municipality in the state to have its affordable housing plan approved by the state Council on Affordable Housing under the agency’s revised third-round regulations, according to township officials.
    The township’s Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, which provides for the construction of 537 affordable housing units between 2004 and 2018, gained COAH approval at the agency’s April 8 meeting.
    Approval of the plan means the township is immunized against builder’s remedy lawsuits. In a builder’s remedy lawsuit, a developer could seek approval for a development that contained more housing units — including affordable units — than the zoning ordinance would permit on a specific parcel.
    Mayor Pam Mount said township officials are “thrilled” Lawrence Township’s Housing Element and Fair Share Plan is the first one to have been recognized by COAH under its third-round approval process.
    “I think COAH recognized we spent a lot of time and energy on it, and it has proven to be great for our town,” Mayor Mount said Monday morning. “We appreciate all the diversity (of housing) in the town. We don’t see any downside to it.”
    Lawrence Township has always tried to provide a diversity of housing for township residents, Mayor Mount said. She pointed to the 100-unit Eggerts Crossing Village development — which opened its doors in 1974 — as an early example of affordable housing. The Johnson Avenue development is owned by Lawrence Non-Profit Housing Inc.
    Lawrence Township has always complied with providing its fair share of affordable housing units set out by COAH, township planning consultant Philip Caton told the Township Council in December 2008 as it prepared to submit the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan for COAH’s approval.
    The township met the number of required units in the first and second rounds — 891 units — by requiring developers to include some affordable housing units in their developments, Mr. Caton said. The third-round plan called for applying some of those affordable units from the earlier developments that were not needed to meet the prior 891-unit obligation.
    The township received credit toward its third-round obligation by applying 75 units of the 117-unit Brookshire senior citizens housing development, located off Darrah Lane, toward its 537-unit obligation.
    The township received credit for 64 units in the 426-unit Avalon Run rental apartment development and credit for 75 units in the 820-unit Lawrence Square Village condominium complex — both off Quakerbridge Road.
    Also, the township sought 10 credits for five units at the planned Rosecliff senior citizen housing development at the intersection of Franklin Corner Road, Route 95, Lawrence Road and Mill Road. The township received five bonus credits for the five rental apartments in the development.
    And the township received 101 credits toward its 537-unit requirement through the extension of affordability controls on existing affordable housing units. Affordability control means the resale price of an affordable unit — one set aside for low- or moderate-income households — is set by the township and not the marketplace.
    The affordability controls initially were set for 20 years, but since many affordable housing units were built in the 1980s and 1990s, those controls are set to expire. The township has extended the affordability controls for 30 years after the initial 20-year term has expired.
    In addition to the credits for affordable units that have already been built, Lawrence Township expects to receive credit for units in new housing developments that may be proposed in the next nine years.
    New Jersey municipalities’ requirement to provide affordable housing grew out of two state Supreme Court decisions, known as Mount Laurel I and Mount Laurel II, which date to the mid-1970s. The rulings required every town to provide its fair share of affordable housing.
    COAH was set up to oversee the issue after the Mount Laurel II court decision in 1983. Each town was told how many units of affordable housing it was obligated to provide in the first round, between 1987 and 1993. The agency set out numbers for the second round that covered 1993 to 1999.
    But the third round, which would have covered 1999 to 2004, was challenged in court. The case was settled, and COAH set out numbers for that round, which is retroactive to 2004 and expires in 2018.