NAACP Confronts Moorestown on Affordable Housing Issue

Moorestown, NJ -- Members of the NAACP confronted Moorestown Council members over the township’s Affordable Housing requirements during Monday night’s meeting, but Executive Committee Housing Chair Michael McNeil made it clear on Wednesday the organization isn’t trying to be confrontational with the township.

“We want to work with them,” McNeil said. “There may be some land they can rezone, but the only way to know is to meet with them.”

McNeil and NAACP Southern Burlington County Chapter President Crystal Charley went before council and said they had ignored the state’s affordable housing laws that state towns have an obligation to provide adequate affordable housing to potential residents.

That decision was handed down in the 1970’s, and the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) was created in 1985 in an effort to make sure municipalities complied with their requirements.

However, COAH failed to meet its obligations, and the State Supreme Court handed jurisdiction of this issue over to judges last year.

In June of last year, Moorestown approved a resolution that “declared the township’s intent to fully comply with its current and future” affordable housing regulations and to protect itself against future litigation on the issue, and in February of this year, it reiterated its intent to bond in the case of an Affordable Housing shortfall.

No decision has been made on how much Affordable Housing Moorestown is required to have, but Charley said the township needs to act sooner than later.

“You should be on the right side of justice. This is a moral obligation,” she told council, saying the right thing to do is to begin building while waiting to see what is required. “ … You just want to meet the law and not do what’s right.”

She said there are homes in Moorestown that could house several families.

Councilwoman Stacey Jordan cited the efforts of Moorestown Ecumenical Development (MEND), which has developed or rehabilitated Affordable Housing units throughout South Jersey.

Charley said if Moorestown is going to make MEND the cornerstone of their plan, they still have a lot more work to do, and Jordan pointed out the township has not been assigned a number yet.

“I was disappointed with their response that they’re waiting on the numbers because there’s land out there for them to build housing,” Charley said. “That tells me they’re looking to do the bare minimum.”

She used home health aid workers as examples of working class families that work in the township, but are not able to find housing in the town.

“Fair share housing is a right,” she said.

One resident said there are Affordable Housing units in town in which the heat is so expensive, residents have to move out.
“It’s supposed to be low-income housing, but if they can’t pay for heat, what good is it,” resident Carol Nash said.

The township said there are programs sponsored by the state and the county that can help residents with their heating bills, and it would provide her with that information.

Resident Kathy Sutherland said she’s followed the issue closely, and it’s not the township that is skirting its obligation.

“It’s a very political issue as to who the governor is,” she said, saying Democrats and Republicans in the governor’s office have handled the issue differently. “ … We also need to be careful about who we put in these homes because it changes the way our schools are and our ability to walk the streets.”

McNeil said the NAACP will assign a team to take a look at Moorestown to see what can be done.

“People need to be able to live in the town they work in,” he said.