Brick Will Fight 1,500-Unit Housing Mandate To The End, Mayor Says

BRICK, NJ -- Brick Township will fight a determination that the town needs to add 1,500 more units of affordable housing as far as the town can take the fight, Mayor John Ducey said Tuesday night.

Responding to resident George Scott’s inquiry into a payment set to be approved by the Township Council for an attorney’s work, Ducey said the bill was for work the attorney is doing to fight the figure, which was determined by the state’s Fair Housing Council.

“The Fair Housing Council says we need 3000 credits,” Ducey said, clarifying that each credite equals roughly two units, for 1,500 units total. “We think we don’t need any which is why we’re fighting this.”

The township joined several other towns throughout the state in September in jointly fighting the Fair Housing Council’s housing determinations.

“It’s outrageous,” Ducey said. “They’re not calculating it right.”

At the township’s reorganization meeting, Ducey said township officlals also were planning to change the zoning on the township’s largest remaining multifamily zone to an R-75 zone, which allows far fewer units per square acre.

“We’ve got no place to put 3,000 more units” Scott said.