Officials in the affluent town of Montvale claim, there’s currently no convenient acreage for more affordable housing in their town. And they’ve gone to court — along with eight other towns — suing the State of New Jersey over a brand new law they say would unfairly make them plan and build units for moderate and low-income people.
“So as of now, as it is, we are at a max,” says Mayor Mike Ghassali. On Zillow, homes list from three-quarters to well over a million dollars. But siting an affordable housing complex? “We would have to, you know, look at the land you know the entire town and the entire region because the surrounding towns are also building,” Ghassali says.
Montvale’s built 365 affordable units in the last five years, Ghassali states. His lawsuit argues, more affordable housing — imposed by the state — would burden Montvale’s taxpayers, its roads and schools without providing any resources to pay for it. It’s a so-called “unfunded mandate,” says plaintiff’s attorney Michael Collins.
“It certainly imposes costs upon the municipalities. And in the 1990s, the people of New Jersey adopted a constitutional amendment that prohibits the legislature from imposing local mandates on municipalities,” Collins said.
The lawsuit — filed in Mercer County Superior Court — also alleges the new law’s regulations, formulas and deadlines for affordable housing obligations are fundamentally flawed. The towns want more time to devise their own plans.
“We need more affordable housing, but we need to plan it smartly. Let us be involved,” the mayor says. He wants three years to plan. But critics charge, affluent towns are simply trying to drag out implementation of the new law in a court challenge that could take years to resolve.
“It’s really a smokescreen for them not wanting to provide the affordable housing and, and they’re admitting that they’re saying all we wanted, we wanted a delay in providing the housing,” says Adam Gordon of the Fair Share Housing Center.
New Jersey faces an affordable housing crisis and needs 200,000 more units now, Gordon said.
The state is expected to advise towns in October how much affordable housing they’re expected to build under the new law, according to sponsor State Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington).
“I will tell you like every single day in my office, we receive a call from someone whether it’s a parent, a recent grad, a veteran, a senior, you name it someone disabled who are struggling to find housing,” Singleton said. “And what this lawsuit says is, let’s take this version of the American dream and keep it out of reach for people just because they don’t look a certain way or have a certain amount of money in their bank account.
The law exempts some urban aid cities, including Newark, from affordable housing quotas. Mayor Ras Baraka— who’s running for governor — disagrees. He says every town needs to build to address the housing crisis.
“We need to find a way to end this dispute and get some housing in the ground. I don’t think all of the cities in the State of New Jersey are refusing to build affordable housing. I just don’t see that,” Baraka says. “I think that a lot of them feel troubled by the idea that they have to do it with, with not enough resources, not enough help, nobody helping them navigate this or giving them reasonable timelines.
Ghassali said that “to classify us as — umbrella — an ultra-wealthy town that don’t want poor people in? Absolutely wrong! Insulting, actually.”
Source: njspotlightnews.org
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