N.J. appeals court gives Christie administration deadline for new affordable-housing rules

TRENTON — A state appeals court has told Gov. Chris Christie’s administration it must come out with new rules for towns’ affordable housing obligations by March 8. The court also said the state must submit progress reports on the new rules every two weeks until then. In October, the court struck down a large portion of the state’s affordable...

Mitsu Yasukawa/ The Star-LedgerExterior photo of Montgomery Heights in Newark, a mid-rise building with 80 one-to three-bedroom stately apartments and town homes, half of which are affordable-housing units, located at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Montgomery Street in Newark.

TRENTON — A state appeals court has told Gov. Chris Christie’s administration it must come out with new rules for towns’ affordable housing obligations by March 8.

The court also said the state must submit progress reports on the new rules every two weeks until then.

In October, the court struck down a large portion of the state’s affordable housing rules that dictate towns’ obligations to provide low- and moderate-income housing, and gave the state five months to write new regulations.

The Council on Affordable Housing has not begun developing the regulations because it has asked the state Supreme Court to delay the requirement while several groups appeal parts of the October decision.

The appeals court decision noted that simply asking the court for more time is no justification for failing to comply with its order.

"New Jersey can’t afford the Christie administration’s foot-dragging on this critical issue," said Kevin Walsh, associate director of the Fair Share Housing Center, an affordable housing advocacy group. "Thousands of working families, people with special needs, and lower-income seniors and New Jersey’s business community are anxiously awaiting sound and constitutional regulations."

Depending on how the first progress report looks, the court will decide whether to appoint a special master to oversee the agency.

The Legislature last week passed a bill that would eliminate the Council on Affordable Housing and sets new benchmarks for the state’s affordable housing policy, but Christie has indicated he will not sign it in its current form. His spokesman, Michael Drewniak, declined to comment.