By Frank Mustac, Special Writer
It will probably take a few months longer now to find out the number of affordable housing units that should be built to meet Hopewell Township’s legal obligations.
Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson will likely decide that number following a trial set to begin sometime in September, according to Hopewell Township’s attorney, Michael W. Herbert.
Mr. Herbert, who substituted for colleague Steven Goodell at the Township Committee meeting on May 24, said the original trial start date was supposed to have been in June.
The first day of trial was postponed, he said, because a decision issued in February by a judge in Ocean County is under appeal. That ruling by Judge Mark Troncone could potentially affect every affordable-housing case in New Jersey. It concerns a stretch of years from about 2000 to the present — called the “gap period.”
“That’s the period of time . . . that no affordable housing regulations were approved by COAH or approved by the courts,” Mr. Herbert said in March.
Judge Troncone’s ruling essentially means that the number of housing units for low- and middle-income buyers that towns in Ocean County and throughout New Jersey would be constitutionally obligated to provide could increase substantially if the gap period is taken into account.
COAH is an acronym for the Council on Affordable Housing, a state agency.
At the May 24 Hopewell Township Committee meeting, Mr. Herbert said the appeals court will probably render a decision in July, maybe August.
“As you know, Judge Jacobson is a conservative judge in that she has chosen here in this matter not to lead but to follow and see what the other judges are doing,” said the attorney. “As far as Hopewell Township goes, we’re looking at a numbers’ trial sometime in September (to determine) what formula will be used for Mercer County communities.”
The trial scheduled to start in September includes several towns in the county, along with Hopewell Township.
As part of its affordable-housing litigation, Hopewell Township told Judge Jacobson’s court that it has the ability to provide 891 units for low- and moderate-income buyers. By contrast, the Fair Share Housing Center, a nonprofit affordable housing advocacy organization, says that the township’s prospective obligation is a minimum of 1,200 units.
As a response to the “gap period” ruling by Judge Troncone in Ocean County, a bill (S-2254) was introduced in the state Legislature “clarifying municipalities cannot be forced to meet retroactive affordable housing requirements, specifically because the Fair Housing Act does not impose such requirements,” according to information published on the website of state Senator Christopher “Kip” Bateman, one of the bill’s co-sponsors.
Mr. Bateman, a Republican, represents the 16th legislative district, which includes a part of Mercer County.
“The bipartisan bill was drafted in the wake of a court ruling that could set a dangerous precedent requiring towns statewide to include tens of thousands of more affordable housing units than they are obligated to provide under the Fair Housing Act,” contends the senator.
