Affordable Housing Reform Group Head Speaks To Moorestown Council

MOORESTOWN, NJ — A former mayor from Mercer County spoke to Moorestown Council about his concerns about affordable housing and his new group, which is aimed at reforming the way affordable housing is done in the state, on Monday night.

Jim Burd, a former Hopewell Township Mayor and Planning Board Member, said he and his group — Citizens Improving Affordable Housing — are looking to modify the way affordable housing is handled in the state. He said there are 15 core members of the group, with many more helping behind the scenes. It is a statewide group that chose to launch its platform at Moorestown's council meeting on May 21.

He told Patch on Monday afternoon he planned to attend the meeting because more than 60 residents in Moorestown and Mount Holly had been served notice in connection with Pennrose’s proposed four-story apartment complex. The developer needs to have a restrictive covenant invalidated so it can begin work on the project, and residents are calling it a project that forces the residents of Moorestown to be sued.

Moorestown Council announced this week that it will discuss litigation, negotiations and the attorney-client privilege related to affordable housing during a closed session meeting on Tuesday, May 29, 8 a.m.

The meeting will take place in the donut room at town hall, 111 West Second Street. Formal action will not be taken.

Read more here: Restrictive Covenant Poses Problem For Affordable Housing Project

On Monday night, Burd spoke about the need to reform a troubled affordable housing system, and called out state legislators in Trenton who have done nothing to solve the problem.

“We are asking for a moratorium on all affordable housing,” Burd said. “We need to look at this, set it up properly and do it all again. I’m asking for your assistance on that.”

The number of required affordable housing units in municipalities statewide has been in dispute, and often in litigation, since 1999. In 2015, authority concerning setting affordable housing requirements for municipalities throughout the state fell on the courts.

This is the third round of affordable housing requirements that have been issued since two court decisions in the 1970s established that municipalities must have an affordable housing aspect to their master plans, and the numbers for municipalities is starting to come into focus.

Moorestown was initially told it needed to build 1,667 additional moderate and low income housing units to satisfy its third round housing obligation, but through a series of negotiations with the Fair Share Housing Center, that number has been reduced to 337.

Burd told the township it needs to be wary of the fact that the number may increase in future years, despite Mayor Stacey Jordan’s contention that the township’s Vacant Land Adjustment means it won’t have to deal with this issue ever again.

Vacant Land Adjustment is when a “municipality shows it does not have adequate resources (land water and/or sewer) to provide a realistic opportunity for addressing the need for low and moderate income housing,” according to the applicable affordable housing rules.

“I have never heard of a community being told they have fully met their affordable housing obligations,” Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi (R-39) told Patch. “Those who are using Vacant Land Adjustment in some cases have been told they need to build up.”

Schepisi is one of the few state legislators that has taken an active interest in the issue. In saying townships were told they need to build up, she is talking about multiple-story apartment and condo buildings.
Burd cited Schepisi’s efforts to Moorestown Council. Jordan said she is familiar with her proposals, calling it “common sense legislation.”

Schepisi is proposing shifting the obligations from the municipalities to the state, meaning the state would decide where to put affordable housing. Currently, communities designated as “urban aid communities” have no affordable housing obligation. However, a number for those municipalities are still calculated, and their obligations are passed on to the surrounding towns. Schepisi’s proposal would end that practice.

She also proposes including foreclosed homes, vacant properties and new construction in the obligation, and taking into account a town’s current population, infrastructure, water and sewer capacities, school class size and services and what the impact will be on municipal services, such as police, fire, ambulance, public transportation and traffic.

She is also looking to eliminate the builder’s remedy, which allows an intervenor developer to come in and propose affordable housing development for municipalities. In the municipality is unable to come up with its own number, the courts often impose the builder’s remedy.

Schepisi’s solution is to give municipalities the right to reject any proposal that would increase housing by more than 5 percent in 10 years.

Schepisi and Burd also look to limit the influence of the Fair Share Housing Center, the non-profit group formed to help enforce the Mount Holly Doctrine, ensuring the housing rights of all New Jersey residents. In the absence of the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), they both say the Fair Share Housing Center has too much influence.

A representative from the Fair Share Housing Center didn’t return a call seeking comment.

Schepisi said her efforts stagnated with the unfortunate passing of longtime Housing Committee Chair Jerry Green. Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly (D-35) has been named the new chair, and she hopes to meet with him soon.

Following Burd's presentation, Jordan told him council agrees with him.

“We have done the best we can with what we’ve had to deal with,” Jordan said. “ … Our leaders are not taking the leadership that they should. I’ll sit down with anyone you want to talk about this.”

Burd said he intends to visit other municipalities to discuss his group and the issue at large in the near future.

Image via Shutterstock