Affordable Housing Legislation Would Force Scotch Plains and Fanwood to Build More Than 900 Units
Scotch Plains and Fanwood's mayors say they oppose the legislation, which was passed by the state legislature, but faces a probable veto.
Even as it awaits the Governor’s veto pen, a bill abolishing New Jersey’s Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) and revamping the state’s affordable housing laws has Scotch Plains and Fanwood officials evaluating the measure’s short- and long-term impact.
The bill (S1) originally cleared the State Senate in June on a 28-3 vote. On Monday, however, the State Assembly passed an amended version of S1 on a 45-32 vote split across party lines.
Gov. Chris Christie indicated through a spokesman that he was unsatisfied with the revisions, according to a report on NJ.com, the website for The Star-Ledger. Fanwood Borough Attorney Dennis Estis was more blunt. “There’s not a chance in the world that the governor’s signing that bill,” he predicted, meaning that S1 is headed for a likely veto.
Both the Senate and Assembly found common ground in their decision to abolish COAH, an often-maligned government organization created in 1985 to enforce affordable housing law.
According to Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood), who voted in favor of S1 on Monday, “Affordable housing under COAH has been a nightmare since I was mayor of Fanwood in 1992. [COAH’s] formulas were complicated and virtually not understandable.”
Where the State Senate and Assembly’s bills differed, however, was in their treatment of affordable housing quotas.
Currently, a number of municipalities comply with COAH by purchasing affordable units for other New Jersey municipalities as a kind of contribution. These contributions, known as Regional Contribution Agreements (RCAs), allow municipalities to comply with the law without building within their own borders.
According to Scotch Plains Township Attorney Jeffrey Lehrer, for example, under COAH Scotch Plains had paid for 175 affordable housing units – not in the township itself, where only 115 affordable housing units currently exist, but in Linden.
The Assembly’s version of S1 would not recognize RCAs like that of Scotch Plains. Instead, it would demand that affordable unit housing quotas that be completed within ten-year cycles, and that units be built entirely within the municipalities themselves. In other words, it would be as though Scotch Plains had never purchased those 175 units.
Mayors from both Scotch Plains and Fanwood voiced their concerns about the strict quotas imposed by the ten-year cycles. Over the course of the three compliance periods, it is estimated Scotch Plains will need to build over 750 new affordable housing units, while Fanwood will have to construct an over 200 new housing units, according to numbers released by the nonprofit Fair Share Housing Organization.
“What that would result in,” Scotch Plains Mayor Nancy Malool said in a telephone interview, “is taking whatever open spaces we have left and converting them to apartment units.” She later added, “S1 places such a burden on suburban municipalities like ours. S1 is not realistic for a town like ours.”
Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr expressed similar concerns. “We are considered what they call a built-up community,” she said. “We’re not a community that could build several hundred of anything. It’s an unrealistic number to plan for."
A particular concern for both municipalities is the second and third ten-year cycle, in which affordable housing construction would be almost double what it was in the first ten years.
Assemblywoman Linda Stender, who voted in favor of the legislation, insists that municipalities should look to the first cycle rather than down the road: “The framework that’s put in place has given those towns the methodology to plan for the next ten years in a way that could be reasonably attained,” she argued. In her view, the New Jersey legislature came up with the best constitutional solution to the problem at hand.
The New Jersey League of Municipalities, of which Scotch Plains and Fanwood are members, has called on the governor to veto the bill. “We are unable to support this bill, in its current form, due to the obligations it would impose on municipalities,” the league asserted in a statement published Jan. 11.
As municipalities across the state continue to figure out those obligations under the revised affordable housing laws, they keep an ear to Trenton to see whether Christie will veto the law.
“Everybody’s kind of out in limbo,” Malool said.
This article was revised Jan. 21 to reflect the following correction:
An earlier version of this article misspelled the surname of Assemblywoman Linda Stender as Stander.
James Devine
2:00 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
We are recruiting candidates for the Union County Democratic primary election... any recommendations? http://democratsforchange.net/recruiting/
Scotch Plains Home Owner
7:37 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
Do I understand this article correctly that our Assemblywoman Linda Stender voted to pave the way for some 750 new affordable living quarters to be built in a town that for practical purposes is fully built out. Our services are taxed and our schools are already full, with the cost per student about $12,000.
Our homes that are already in existence are rapidly become unaffordable housing, due to Trenton in part.
Is she representing us, builders or who?
Can any one help me out understand what is going on?
Rich Fortunato
5:46 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011
Linda Stender receives quite a bit of campaign money from carpenters, iron and steel workers and yes, real estate agents. Check out the records of her campaign contributions at the NJ Division of Elections. It is no wonder that she is in favor of building hundreds of units in Fanwood and Scotch Plains.
Scotch Plains Home Owner
7:45 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011
Mr. Fortunato:
Thank for the response if what you say is true and as you suggested I did take a look at her contributions and did see some contractors and a number of contributions from the Democrat political elite.
It would appear that our well being is not high on her list of concerns.
Let's hope that Mr. Devine has luck getting potential candidates for the up coming elections.
In the middle
6:20 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011
"Assemblywoman Linda Stender, who voted in favor of the legislation, insists that municipalities should look to the first cycle rather than down the road. “The framework that’s put in place has given those towns the methodology to plan for the next ten years in a way that could be reasonably attained,” she argued. In her view, the New Jersey legislature came up with the best constitutional solution to the problem at hand.
Does anyone know what the heck the above means? If Assemblywoman Stender is requiring Scotch Plains to build 750 housing units in its town even if they don't get sold or rented, and building must start in the middle of a real estate slump, then...what is her reasoning? There isn't any reasonable answer but I guess she had throw something out there - some grouping of words. So...Scotch Plains should just go ahead and build housing units now ("look to the first cycle") and then worry later about how it's going to build even more units ('rather than look down the road"). We the taxpayer have to cough up money to build a bunch of houses or apartments in Scotch Plains (even if nobody wants them) and force us (our town) to be a landlord that can't pull in rent or a homeowner that must (but can't) sell the houses to recoup our costs in building housing that nobody wants? All of this in the middle of a real estate slump when many of us don't have jobs?
Scotch Plains Home Owner
8:01 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011
In the middle:
Thank you for your response as well. It does appear that my understanding was correct.
Has not looking at the up front results rather than the long term ones by Trenton been one of our major problems why our state is in such poor financial state?
Reading your response, makes me wonder if this is another "Senior Housing" that we will be responsible for paying for years down the road.
It is to bad that the Assemblywoman does not read these positings and find the time to provide us with greater definition of her thinking. However, I suppose that as Mr. Fortunato mentioned a lot of it may be related to campaign funding and this is something that is not mentioned to the public.
Perhaps Mr. Devine will find a good candidate or perhaps the Republicans will find a good conservative one themselves to run for the office.
In the middle
10:15 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011
Scotch Plains Home Owner:
I agree 100% that failing to look at the "long road" has already gotten us into trouble. Shocking that Assemblywoman Stender would tell our mayors not to look at the long road/long term. (Not that starting work on a few hundred housing units in Scotch Plains in a real estate glut is good for the "short term" either but whatever). As far as the Senior Housing comparison - I think this is different because I think it's clear from the get go that it's the town's main responsibility which would mean residents like us mostly footing the bill. I can't imagine being forced into being a seller/landlord of new housing right now. The only thing I can think of is that Stender "went along" with the Democrats because she knew Christie would reject the bill? Scary way of doing business.
Scotch Plains Home Owner
6:42 pm on Sunday, January 23, 2011
In the middle, I am also not convinced that we would be the seller/landlord either, but I do see greater costs of in fracture, services and greatly increased congestion on the roads as a result of an additional 750 living quarters in Scotch Plains. An example of this, would be were will their children go to school. We will need new schools, teachers, administrators, etc. In addition, an increase in police, fire equipment, and other city employees may be needed. Should these living quarters, be low income housing do you expect them to pay the average $10,000 a year in property taxes? The rest of us tax payers would have to make up the difference. Also, this amount does not even pay for one child in our school system.
Of course, it is hard to believe that we have any financial responsibility for the Senior Housing, but we do. Let’s say that I have little confidence that some how the residents will not have another financial responsibility. Many have grown very negative on any thing that comes out of Trenton.
The reality of the situation, as you mentioned, is possibly just a way for a politician in the Democrat party trying to make the Republican governor look bad. To be honest, I think that our Assemblywoman is the one that came out looking out of touch with those in our towns.