SUSSEX, NJ - The Council on Affordable Housing yesterday issued a sweeping order that would prevent 72 towns in the environmentally sensitive Highlands from approving any major development that does not include affordable housing. Under the "scarce resource restraint" order, which takes effect immediately, the only projects that will receive local approvals, and water and wastewater permits, are residential developments that include at least 20 percent affordable housing.
The order does not apply to single-family or duplex units on existing lots or any development that is already exempted from the 2004 Highlands Act. It could, however, affect commercial development and non-affordable residential development that has not already received local approvals or certain permits. "The point of it is to ensure that there's sufficient land, water and sewer to meet the affordable housing obligations in the Highlands region," said Lucy Vandenberg, executive director of the Council on Affordable Housing, or COAH.
The Highlands span 88 towns in Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Sussex, Warren, Somerset and Hunterdon counties. The region provides water to more than half the state's population. Sixteen towns in the Highlands would be unaffected by COAH's order because they have not met the council's requirements for certification.
The measure immediately drew criticism from some town officials. "It does seem to be a sledgehammer to fix a problem that is not all that major," said Tom Collins, an attorney for municipal agencies in several of the affected towns. A number of his clients already have complied with COAH regulations, but the scarce resources order will stop other development, he said. Bedminster, where Collins is the planning board attorney, "has hundreds of credits, far in excess of any affordable housing obligation, but now they will be enjoined from approving anything," he said.
Towns with projects that don't include affordable housing may appeal to COAH for an exception but must show they can still meet their affordable housing obligation if the project is built. Yesterday's move by COAH also drew criticism from builder attorneys, who charged the council did not provide adequate notice, or go through the proper procedures to issue such an order. "I am not clear on what the emergency is that suggested that the council should bypass the requirements of its own rules and basic due process," said Guliet Hirsch, an attorney with Archer and Greiner who represents many builders and property owners.
Vandenberg disagreed, noting that it was publicly noticed. In addition, she said, the memorandum of understanding with the Highlands Council has been on the council's website all month. Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club of New Jersey, said his organization supported the order. "We felt it would be the one way to make sure the affordable housing got built, and the towns couldn't play games," he said. Without the order, he said, he worried that towns would approve luxury housing or box stores and say they had no room left for affordable housing, leading developers to sue and threaten the environmental protections of the Highlands Act.
Vandenberg said yesterday's order simply implements an executive order on the Highlands signed by Gov. Jon Corzine in September as well as a memorandum of understanding approved by the COAH and the Highlands Council last month. In his directive, Corzine called on the Highlands Council and COAH to coordinate their sometimes conflicting goals of protecting an environmentally sensitive swath of land and making sure the region had enough housing for low- and moderate-income residents.
Source: NJ.com