TRENTON — In a move designed to streamline state government, Gov. Chris Christie said today he is abolishing the Council on Affordable Housing, an embattled panel that administers New Jersey's affordable housing laws. The Department of Community Affairs will pick up administrative duties and enforce affordable housing laws, a move Christie said would cut down on bureaucracy and save...
Gov. Chris Christie during a May town hall meeting. TRENTON — In a move designed to streamline state government, Gov. Chris Christie said today he is abolishing the Council on Affordable Housing, an embattled panel that administers New Jersey's affordable housing laws.
The Department of Community Affairs will pick up administrative duties and enforce affordable housing laws, a move Christie said would cut down on bureaucracy and save taxpayers money.
Christie's reorganization plans do not require legislative approval, but lawmakers could disapprove of the move within 60 days.
"I’ve always believed that municipalities should be able to make their own decisions on affordable housing without being micromanaged and second guessed from Trenton," Christie wrote in the order. "The Department of Community Affairs will work with municipalities on affordable housing, not against them."
The shift drew the ire of affordable housing advocates.
"Christie is just giving himself greater power to frustrate the enforcement of fair housing policy," said Kevin Walsh, associated director of the Fair Share Housing Center, advocacy group.
COAH has been on the chopping block for more than a year, one of the main tenets of a bill abolishing the agency that Christie conditionally vetoed in January. Though both Democrats and Republicans have called COAH bureaucratically cumbersome and outdated, Christie disagreed with the affordable housing obligation that would have been imposed on towns under the legislation that reached his desk.
The state Supreme Court has also said it will hear a League of Municipalities lawsuit regarding affordable housing obligations.
Mike Cerra, a policy analyst for the league, said the shift is "potentially hugely significant, because you’re dealing with a very controversial issue."
Cerra said although the league supports consolidating government to reduce the burden on taxpayers, his concern is losing protection for towns against litigation by developers established under COAH. In addition to COAH, four other administrative shifts were announced.
The State Planning Commission and Office of Smart Growth would go to the Department of State, from Community Affairs; the Business Retention and Attraction Division would move to State; the Amistad Commission would move from the Department of State the Department of Education, and the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education would be abolished and transferred to the Secretary of Higher Education.