Community association alarmed by new proposal on affordable housing

Leaders of the Journal Square Community Association expressed alarm about an effort to scale down a long-sought affordable housing initiative scheduled for final approval by the City Council on Wednesday evening.

The Council will take up, in sequence, two proposals for mandatory affordable housing in the Journal Square Redevelopment Area. The first, which would have its initial reading that night, would limit applicability of the new requirements to the Central Core of the Journal Square Area (Districts 1 and 3). The other proposed ordinance, which would be in in its second and final reading, would apply these requirements to a much larger area, including Bergen Square, India Square/Little Bombay and the many older residential areas still remaining in Journal Square. The second version has been recommended by the Jersey City Planning staff and Planning Board.

Tom Zuppa, president of the Journal Square Community Association (JSQCA), expressed his disappointment with the narrower proposal. "We have a real chance to make a meaningful impact for a community lacking affordable housing. It is an understatement to say we are disheartened that after two years of hard work and dedication from our Affordable Housing Task Force we end up with an amendment that was gutted and will have a lessened impact, all at the first sign of influence from special interests,” Zuppa said.

“We will keep advocating for expansion of mandatory affordable housing in Journal Square and fight for our residents who continuously get left behind. We urge the Council to reject this eleventh-hour proposal in favor of our more inclusive plan, which would directly alleviate unaffordability where it matters,” Zuppa added.

Adam Gordon, executive director of the Fair Share Housing Center, said, “This initiative recognizes the imperative to harness market-rate development to create as much affordable housing as possible. We support the effort for full coverage of the JSQ 2060 Redevelopment Area.”

Chris Lamm, the JSQCA’s vice president and chairman of its Construction and Planning Committee, said there is a preliminary proposal for the redevelopment of the former Muller Pasta factory along Baldwin Avenue. The proposed development would create more than 2,400 new units.

“This property would be exempt if the City Council adopts the narrow version of the proposal. That represents a potential loss of 250 to 300 affordable housing units,” said Lamm, a resident of the Hilltop area. He also noted that there are other similar large development sites within District 4 that would City also escape the requirements if this area remains exempted from the new law.

Michael Ehrmann, chairman of the JSQCA Affordable Housing Task Force, and Katie Brennan, a member of the Task Force and a veteran housing expert, said that failure to adopt the wider proposal would represent a significant lost opportunity for the city.