Legislation says towns can rezone 20 percent of developable land to allow for housing for people who earn up to 150 percent of their region's median income
A March 2010 file photo of the Assembly Chamber.TRENTON — An affordable housing bill before the Legislature does not actually require towns to provide housing opportunities for low-income residents, but it does credit municipalities if they rezone for more expensive homes, according to a report scheduled for release Monday.
"It's not an exaggeration at all to say this bill may not result in any low- or moderate-income housing," said Kevin Walsh, associate director of the nonprofit Fair Share Housing Center, which produced the report. "This legislation is working at cross purposes with dozens of other state policies."
An Assembly committee plans to consider the bill (A3447) and amendments Monday. Part of the legislation says towns that fall short on their affordable-housing obligation can rezone 20 percent of their developable land to allow for housing for people who earn up to 150 percent of their region's median income. By comparison, "affordable housing" covers incomes from zero to 80 percent of median income.
According to the report, a copy of which was obtained by The Star-Ledger, 150 percent of median income for a family of four in Essex County is $131,721, an amount that translates into a house that could sell for $529,900.
State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill, said the legislation focuses on zoning for all housing. He also said it eliminates the Council on Affordable Housing, which told towns how much low- and moderate-income housing they had to provide.
Lesniak (D-Union) said the market determines where housing is built, and affordable units would be constructed along with other homes.
"There's no building requirement in this bill," Lesniak said.
"There's no affordable-housing obligation, there's a zoning obligation," he said. Building market-rate homes "spins off the affordable housing" because developers' options include setting aside 10 percent of the units for low- and moderate-income people, he said.
According to the legislation, a builder can construct the set-aside housing at another location in a town or avoid it altogether by paying 3 percent of the development's price to the municipality. Towns must use the money for affordable housing or eventually forfeit it to the state.
"This is ensuring that municipalities don't preclude low- and moderate-income people living in their towns," Lesniak said.
Housing advocates say the bill has good points, but they don't believe the proposed zoning component will work.
"We see this one piece as a loophole," said Judy Remington, executive director of the nonprofit Coalition for Affordable Housing and the Environment. "This provision simply says you're compliant by simply zoning for higher-cost housing. I don't think New Jersey is in need of any higher-priced housing; there's a glut of expensive homes."
Walsh said the need for starter homes won't be met and developers can pay their way out of building affordable housing through the 3 percent option, which can be cheaper than the price of a house.
The Fair Share report also says three-quarters of any housing built under the bill would be concentrated in seven counties — Morris, Middlesex, Somerset, Monmouth, Ocean, Gloucester and Burlington — with 25 towns taking on more than half the state's obligation.
The housing center reached its conclusions by taking a land-use analysis Rowan University researchers conducted and multiplying the 20 percent of developable land by four to account for the bill's four-unit-per-acre minimum.
Housing advocates noted the pressure is on in noncompliant towns in southern New Jersey. The northern part of the state, which is more built-up, could provide affordable housing through redevelopment, but the bill lacks clear guidelines for that, said Diane Sterner, executive director of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey.
Assemblyman Jerry Green (D-Union) said his Housing and Local Government Committee plans to consider the legislation Monday. Green and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union) said they were among legislators who met late last week with housing and environmental advocates to hear their concerns. Without being specific, the legislators said discussions on amendments are under way.
"I want to put people in homes," Green said.
To see the full report Monday, go to www.fairsharehousing.org.