newjerseynewsroom.com

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

With the support of at least some housing advocates as well as developers and local officials, an Assembly committee on Friday approved Democratic-sponsored legislation to abolish the state Council on Affordable Housing, eliminate a commercial development fee that was to help finance affordable housing and attempt to New Jersey's housing laws.

The bill (A-3447), would abolish COAH and what officials believe is its bureaucracy, eliminate the 2.5 percent fee on commercial development and provide major housing obligation reductions for cities and towns throughout the state.

"New Jersey will finally have a viable housing plan for its hard-working families that is also good for business and workable for mayors," Assemblyman Jerry Green (D-Union), the committee's chairman, said Friday. "This bill gives towns relief from COAH's unreasonable demands, offers businesses a much-needed break and clears the way for housing for lower-income New Jerseyans to finally actually be built in our state. It is a sound and reasonable approach that bodes well for New Jersey's future."

• Abolish the state Council on Affordable Housing, or COAH.
• Provide a major decrease in municipal housing obligations compared to the ones required by COAH.
• Exempt 71 municipalities from housing obligations. These municipalities have more than 50 percent of their children participating in free or reduced school lunch programs.
• Require municipalities with 20 to 50 percent of their children on free and reduce lunch to ensure 8 percent of their housing is for low- and moderate-income families.
• Require municipalities with less than 20 percent of their children on free and reduced lunch to ensure 10 percent of their housing is for low- and moderate-income families.
• Eliminate the 2.5 percent fee on commercial development.
• Subject residential development that does not include low- and moderate-income housing to a 1.5 percent development fee to help fund affordable housing.

Following the committee vote, Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey Director of Policy and Advocacy Staci Berger said, "While this proposal is not perfect, we believe it represents an opportunity for all of our elected officials to restore balance to New Jersey's housing market," Berger said. "Our current housing market is lopsided, with an overemphasis on the creation of high end homes. It's as if people could only buy caviar and filet mignon in the supermarket. We know folks need tuna fish and Hamburger Helper too. This proposal helps builds starter homes and family rentals, which allows our market to have something everyone can afford.

"While we have not seen the finer details of the legislation in depth yet, we believe it moves our housing policy in the right direction. It no longer proposes to exacerbate this imbalance in the market, eliminating the 150 percent of area median income housing provision that would have saturated our communities with expensive homes they did not need and not required the creation of a single affordable home."

Berger said, "This legislation would mean that every community must work towards making 10 percent of its homes affordable for low and moderate income residents over the next decade, including creating homes for folks with very low incomes. It will also act as an economic engine, by getting the nearly $300 million currently in municipal trust funds moving, as New Jersey's non-profits and other builders use those funds to create homes. Those dollars can help put New Jersey back on the path to economic prosperity.

"We are encouraged that communities working with non-profits will be able to spend their local dollars quickly," Berger said. "Furthermore, nonprofit developers in communities that are reluctant to spend their trust fund dollars will now have additional tools at their disposal. Qualified county governments can be partners in this process, by allocating the unspent local trust fund dollars. In areas where the counties opt not to participate, the DCA Commissioner is empowered to award those funds to qualified non-profits to create homes in those communities. We think these options will contribute significantly to the creation of homes people need in our state.

"There are two areas of concern that remain for the hundreds of non-profits who are ready, willing and able to help build these homes. First, we believe that the overall number of homes that this legislation creates can and should be higher. At last count, our state needs to create more than half a million homes - many more than this bill will ultimately address.

"Despite that shortcoming, this legislation will require 55,000 (houses and apartments) to be built or rehabilitated in the coming decade. We need to ensure that non-profits have the highest possible capacity to meet that need," Berger said. "To do that, this legislation should restore the $6 million in capacity support for the state's non-profit sector that was siphoned by the 2010-2011 (state budget.)."

Assemblywoman Mila M. Jasey and Assemblyman Albert Coutinho (both D-Essex) are sponsoring the bill with Green.