Monroe officials are confident they can meet a court-imposed deadline to demonstrate the township is providing a sufficient amount of affordable housing units.
A recent state Superior Court decision granted Monroe five months to come into compliance with its state-mandated affordable housing obligations. On July 9, Judge Douglas Wolfson issued an order protecting the municipality from a legal challenge by Monroe 33 Developers LLC. Under the order, the town is protected from additional challenges brought by developers.
Council President Gerald Tamburro, who chairs the township’s affordable housing board, said he believes it is evident that the township is already working to meet its obligations.
“Our position all along has been that the state has caused the problem on affordable housing,” Tamburro said. “Through the approvals that are being built [in town] right now and approvals that are out there to be built, we’ve more than substantially met our requirements … and that’s the case that we have to make to the judge.”
Wolfson’s decision prevents the filing of a builder’s remedy lawsuit against Monroe — an option open to a developer who can demonstrate a municipality is not in compliance with its affordable housing obligations — through Nov. 9.
“I am satisfied that Monroe has made a good faith attempt to satisfy its affordable housing obligations, and hence, deserves immunity from exclusionary zoning actions, on the condition that it prepares and files its housing element and fair share plan within five months,” Wolfson wrote in his decision.
Wolfson decided that if Monroe Township were “determined to be noncompliant” after the five-month period of immunity, only then would a builder’s remedy lawsuit be entertained. However, Wolfson did grant Monroe 33 Developers and the Fair Share Housing Center (FSHC), a Trenton-based nonprofit, intervening status in the future assessment of the township’s plan to provide affordable housing.
This ruling gives those groups the opportunity to provide input on the town’s plan in the coming months.
The FSHC sought a seat at the table in order to scrutinize Monroe’s plan to ensure that it does, indeed, pass muster.
Wolfson gave the FSHC the green light to file a two-count counterclaim, which asserts that Monroe Township’s affordable housing plan is unconstitutional and violates the New Jersey Civil Rights Act, according to court documents. The parties will meet for further discussion at a conference scheduled for Aug. 24.
“We’re hoping to make sure that Monroe actually has a plan that is realistic and actually meets the level of need that there is in the community,” Adam Gordon, staff attorney at the FSHC, said in an interview.
“We’re not just talking about a plan, we’re talking about those homes actually being created.
“[Monroe] presented an initial plan that is just sort of an outline. We’re looking for some more specifics on some of those plans … to make sure it serves everybody’s needs.”
Jerome Convery, attorney for Monroe’s affordable housing board, pointed to deals with developers that provide affordable housing units; land acquired in settlements where the township intends to construct more than 100 affordable units; and several programs — funded by the township’s affordable housing trust — designed to assist people with low-to-moderate incomes.
Those include a down payment assistance program, which offers up to 10 percent of a resident’s down payment on an affordable unit as a zero-interest loan from the township.
In addition, the township will reimburse moving costs, closing costs and attorney’s fees up to $3,000 for people moving into affordable units. The township also provides a rehabilitation program, in which affordable units are brought up to code at no cost, so long as the owner accepts a 10-year lien.
“There are these other mechanisms in place within the township helping make housing more affordable,” Convery said.
Still, the FSHC is unconvinced that Monroe Township’s affordable housing plan is sufficient.
“We don’t think the township has demonstrated clearly that they’re in compliance yet,” Gordon said in an interview. “But, of course, we’re hoping that in the next five months we’ll work together toward that compliance.
“We just want to find where the gaps are and then fill those gaps.”
Wolfson’s order follows a March ruling by the state Supreme Court that invalidated the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), returning jurisdiction over affordable housing obligations to the courts. In that decision, municipalities were directed to appear before trial courts to demonstrate their plans to provide sufficient affordable housing based on the needs of the regional community.
Monroe was the first municipality in Middlesex County to file its affordable housing plan, which was submitted on June 9, and Wolfson’s order is setting precedent for the new process municipalities will have to follow now that COAH has been dissolved.