TRENTON — A controversial bill that would abolish the Council on Affordable Housing advanced through an Assembly committee today, though its prospects of becoming law became bleak after Gov. Chris Christie pledged to veto it last week. The bill requires that towns make 10 percent of new development affordable — with some notable exceptions — instead of relying on...
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A March 2010 file photo of the Assembly Chamber.TRENTON — A controversial bill that would abolish the Council on Affordable Housing advanced through an Assembly committee today, though its prospects of becoming law became bleak after Gov. Chris Christie pledged to veto it last week.
The bill requires that towns make 10 percent of new development affordable — with some notable exceptions — instead of relying on a system Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Lori Grifa described as “rigid, arcane and virtually unintelligible.”
The vote on the bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Jerry Green (D-Union) was 4-1, with one abstention. Green and Assembly members Mila Jasey (D-Essex), Celeste Riley (D-Cumberland) and Fred Scalera (D-Essex) voted yes. Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris) voted no. Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk (R-Bergen) abstained.
Developers who do not set aside 10 percent of their units as affordable would pay a 3.5 percent penalty to the state, which would require the money be used to construct affordable housing in the same town. Or towns could set 20 percent of their development land aside for those earning up to 150 percent of their region’s median income.
The enforcement responsibilities will be transferred from the council to the Department of Community Affairs.
The council is a hot-button issue in New Jersey politics. It was created in response to a series of state Supreme Court decisions in the 1970s and '80s that interpreted the state Constitution to say towns have an obligation to create affordable housing. Many suburban mayors have chaffed at the regulations, and Gov. Chris Christie said on the campaign trail last year that he would “gut COAH.”
While Christie supports abolishing the council, he opposes the bill’s 2.5 percent fee on commercial development to help pay for affordable housing. The bill temporarily does away with the fee — which is currently in effect because a moratorium on it expired in July — but phases it back over the course of five years.
"Putting developer fees on developers when you're trying to get them to develop things and create jobs — I mean, this is the stupidest idea I've heard in a week," Christie said Wednesday.
Grifa gave the administration's viewpoint at today's hearing.
“No matter how worthy the purpose, a tax on business development is not in the best interest of the state, and this provision is unacceptable,’ she said.
On the other side, affordable housing advocates and civil rights groups say the provision that would let towns zone for higher-income housing would mean virtually no growth in affordable housing.
“This legislation will build no more affordable homes in New Jersey,” said Staci Berger, director of policy and advocacy for the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. “Right now it has more loopholes than the Dallas Cowboys defense. It really needs to be tightened up.”
A similar bill passed the state Senate in June. It now moves on for a vote in the full Assembly.