Local towns are lining up in support of a bill that would abolish the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) that would give governing bodies control over provision of affordable housing in their municipalities.
The Middletown Township Committee unanimously passed a resolution on Feb. 1 supporting S-1, the bill proposed by Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak (D-Union), which was introduced to the State Senate in a session after Gov. Chris Christie was sworn in on Jan. 19.
While at its Feb. 2 meeting, the Aberdeen Township Council discussed drafting a resolution in support of the proposed bill as well.
As introduced, S-1 proposes reforms to both the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and COAH, calling for the abolishment of COAH and assigning administrative responsibilities to the state Planning Commission as well as eliminating the calculation of need for each municipality.
According to the New Jersey League of Municipalities (NJLM) website, the legislation “Would authorize a municipality to adopt an ordinance determining that it has provided for an appropriate variety and choice of housing and complied with the FHA, if it meets criteria to be determined by the state Planning Commission.”
Mayor Gerard P. Scharfenberger said in an interview last week that any legislation that would help abolish COAH would be a win-win for Middletown and other suburban towns like it.
“As long as I’ve been on the [township] committee, I’ve been vocally outspoken about COAH,” Scharfenberger said. “It’s been an unmitigated disaster for us. COAH costs us millions of dollars that we don’t have and hurts us environmentally because it forces development in our vanishing open spaces.”
He added that the proposed bill “puts more power back into the people who live in these communities and they decide what direction they want to take without some bureaucrat in Trenton deciding some arbitrary number that you have to somehow come up with.”
During a workshop meeting Feb. 2, AberdeenCouncilmanGregoryCannon suggested the council should also back the Lesniak bill.
“I believe in the interest of Aberdeen Townshipwe should not have COAH,” Cannon said. “It will allow municipalities to make interlocal agreements. We can band together and say, ‘I have some empty property here’ and it would give us more flexibility.”
The proposed bill also requires amending the state Planning Act every six years and would restore regional contribution agreements (RCAs), which allowed towns to transfer part of their affordable housing obligations to other municipalities at a per-unit fee. RCAs were eliminated by a court decision.
“There will be changes to the bill as it’s written,” said Aberdeen township attorney Diane Dabulas. “There is some degree of hesitation on getting rid of the entirety and transferring it to the Planning Commission. There is certainly an obligation and we are still going to have to comply. It’s not getting rid of our entire obligation.”
The Lesniak bill estimates that more than 5,000 housing units could be constructed and up to $116 million could be transferred to urban municipalities for redevelopment.
“I’ve pored over the bill three or four times and I feel I’m a little steeped in it, but it certainly allows for more flexibility,” Dabulas said. “It has some downsides as well, but it certainly has some flexibility.”
COAH was established in 1985 as a result of a series of New Jersey Supreme Court cases known as the Mount Laurel decisions.
In 1985, the Legislature enacted the FHA, which established COAH as a state agency with members appointed by the governor.
The proposed bill would also forgive unmet housing need from prior rounds set by COAH, according to the NJLM.
However, if a municipality does not meet the criteria in S-1, the governing body is required to pass an ordinance requiring 20 percent set aside for low- and moderate-income households. Builders have the option of seeking a variance if a municipality does not adopt the ordinance.
The bill will be considered by the Senate Economic Growth Committee, which Lesniak chairs, on March 8..
Township Manager Joseph Criscuolo requested that Township Clerk Karen Ventura should place Bill S-1 on the Aberdeen Township website for residents to read before the governing body takes action on a resolution.