Groups ask for more time while appealing court decision
Exterior photo of Montgomery Heights in Newark, a mid-rise building with 80 one-to three-bedroom stately apartments and town homes offering panoramic views and first-class amenities, located at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and Montgomery Street, Newark, in this September 2010 photo.TRENTON — The state Supreme Court has granted the Council on Affordable Housing a delay in coming up with new rules for the state’s affordable housing obligation.
The order, made last week, overturns a lower court’s order from Jan. 13 that the state had to come up with the rules by March 8.
In October, an appeals court struck down a large portion of the state’s affordable housing rules that dictate towns’ obligations to provide housing for low and moderate income residents, giving the state five months to write the new regulations.
But the Council on Affordable Housing did not start drawing up the regulations because it was asking the state Supreme Court to delay the requirement while several groups appealed parts of the October decision. In its order from last week, the Supreme Court granted that delay.
Kevin Walsh of the Fair Share Housing Center – one of the group’s challenging parts of the October decision — said while the state no longer faces a deadline, the part of the appellate court’s order that would force Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Lori Grifa to update the court on the council’s progress in drawing up new rules should still stand.
“Just because there’s no longer a deadline doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be working on it,” said Walsh. “The obligation to do something, I think, still stands.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Community Affairs declined to comment.
Previous coverage:
• N.J. appeals court gives Christie administration deadline for new affordable-housing rules
• N.J. Legislature approves abolishing COAH, overhauling affordable housing laws
• N.J. Assembly approves bill abolishing Council on Affordable Housing
• Less affordable housing, higher rents in Newark since 2005, report finds
• Gov. Christie pledges to veto affordable housing bill advanced by N.J. Assembly panel