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On May 6, 2008, the Council on Affordable Housing also proposed amendments to the recently adopted revised third round rules (N.J.A.C. 5:96 and N.J.A.C. 5:97) and the procedural rules for municipalities certified before January 25, 2007 (N.J.A.C. 5:95). The proposed rules are scheduled to be published in the NJ Register on June 16, 2008. Upon publication, written comments can be submitted [Email address: COAHmail #AT# dca.state.nj.us - replace #AT# with @ ] until August 15, 2008.

Full text of the proposed rules are available by clicking here.

To read the proposed growth share rules click here.

The Housing Partnership will be holding an important workshop on February 21st at 6:30 PM at the County College of Morris. Details are below. Click here for the registration form.

“The Proposed COAH Rule Changes: The Impact on Your Municipality”

Thursday, February 21, 2008 6:30p.m. - 9:00p.m.
County College of Morris
Center Grove Road at Route 10, Randolph, NJ 07869

Featured presenters:

Lucy Voorhoeve, Exec. Dir., Council on Affordable Housing

Edwin Schmierer, Esq., Mason, Griffin & Pierson, P.C.

Q & A Discussion will include the presenters and a panel of local planners.

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According to an article in today’s Star-Ledger “A state appeals court yesterday gave the Corzine administration an extra six months to complete a set of regulations to guide cities and towns in building or rehabilitating up to 166,000 affordable houses and apartments.” This extension will only delay and exacerbate a problem that needs to be addressed now.

To read the full article click here.

In a report in today’s Star-Ledger they reported that “New Jersey’s cities and towns should come up with more than 115,000 new houses and apartments for moderate- and low-income residents over the next decade to address New Jersey’s affordable housing crisis, a state consultant’s report released yesterday concludes.

The state Council on Affordable Housing also projects another 51,000 deteriorating houses and apartments should be rehabilitated by 2018.”

To read the full story click here. This is part of the article.

Report: N.J. needs to step up efforts on affordable housing
115,000 units will be needed in next 10 years

Friday, January 04, 2008 BY TOM HESTER,Star-Ledger Staff

New Jersey’s cities and towns should come up with more than 115,000 new houses and apartments for moderate- and low-income residents over the next decade to address New Jersey’s affordable housing crisis, a state consultant’s report released yesterday concludes.

The state Council on Affordable Housing also projects another 51,000 deteriorating houses and apartments should be rehabilitated by 2018.

The figures show New Jersey’s need for affordable housing is far greater than state officials had previously projected, outstripping Gov. Jon Corzine’s goal to provide 100,000 new or refurbished affordable housing units over the next 10 years.

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Tags: COAH, Ending Homelessness, Nonprofit, Supportive Housing

COAH released today its new revised Third Round Rules. The following is the summary form their web site. To view the rules click here.

“The rules are scheduled to be published in the January 22, 2008 New Jersey Register. COAH will be holding five public hearings throughout the State. Also, written comments can be submitted to COAHmail [Email address: COAHmail #AT# dca.state.nj.us - replace #AT# with @ ] until March 22, 2008.” We encourage everyone to review and comment on these rules.

On December 17, 2007, the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) voted to propose its revised third round regulations resulting from the Appellate Division Decision on January 25, 2007. The rules are scheduled to be published in the January 22, 2008 New Jersey Register. COAH will be holding five public hearings throughout the State. Also, written comments can be submitted to COAHmail [Email address: COAHmail #AT# dca.state.nj.us - replace #AT# with @ ] until March 22, 2008.

Consistent with the requirements of the Appellate Division decision, the rules update the affordable housing requirement for municipalities based on the latest available data. Below is a summary of the major changes:

Continuation of the growth share approach, with affordable housing need measured as a percentage of residential and non-residential growth from 2004 to 2018.

New ratios are 1 affordable unit among 5 units and 1 affordable unit for every 16 jobs (previously ratios were 1 among 9 units and 1 for every 25 jobs)

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Tags: affordable-housing, COAH, Supportive Housing

State Community Affairs Commissioner Joseph Doria spoke at semi-annual meeting of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey about changes in the COAH rules.

“Under the new regulations, if a developer, for example, gains approval to erect 100 houses in wealthy Tewksbury in Hunterdon County, 20 of them must be affordable. If a developer constructs a 200-unit apartment building in Newark’s reviving Penn Station neighborhood, 40 must be affordable. COAH is expected to give preliminary approval to the new regulations Monday.”

In addition, “Doria said much of the money to finance Gov. Jon Corzine’s plan to erect 100,000 affordable units in 10 years will come from $168 million in builder fees that municipalities have been collecting and basically sitting on for as long as a decade.”

To read the full article in the Star-Ledger click here.

New Jersey Assembly members Roberts, Watson Coleman and Green have unveiled a 12 point plan to “will lead to the creation of greater affordable housing opportunities in New Jersey.”

To read the full plan click here.

The 12 proposals are:

* Abolish RCAs: End the reprehensible practice of allowing municipalities to duck their affordable housing responsibilities, but give urban communities new funding so they don’t have to rely on RCAs.

* 20-percent set aside for state projects: Establish a 20-percent affordable housing set aside for all state-assisted development projects — such Smart Growth Areas and Transit villages; state needs to lead by example.

* New Housing Trust Fund: Create a reconstituted state affordable housing umbrella fund with an expanded pool of revenue sources.

* Tax Credits: Make federal Low Income Tax Credits available to private developers; New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Washington, and California already do this.

* Increasing Access: Expand middle-income eligibility for affordable housing units and promote production of housing units for families earning less than 30 percent of the state’s median income.

* Utilizing school funding: Use school funding formula to award towns that provide affordable housing to low- and moderate-income students.

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In today’s Star-Ledger there was an op-ed by John Farmer, Jr. entitled “Sly tricks don’t equal real reform“. Mr. Farmer is a former New Jersey attorney general and was senior counsel to the 9/11 commission. He is now in private practice, and is an adjunct professor of national security law at Rutgers Law School.

His article makes the case for the failure of the so called reform process in NJ. He begins the article by referencing the classic Steve Martin routine in which he claims “you can be a millionaire and not pay taxes.” The punch line is that when Martin’s character is confronted by the IRS about not paying taxes his answer is I forgot.

Mr. Farmer sums up his frustration and what should be ours as well in his closing paragraph. “When that day comes, and a future generation asks why we failed to make the courageous decisions that would have avoided calamity, we may be left to remember Steve Martin’s millionaire. When finally confronted by the IRS about why he hadn’t paid any taxes, he replied, grinning sheepishly, “I forgot!”

The multiple problems that we face cannot be solved by saying we forgot or that we were selfish. We encourage our readers to read Mr. Farmer’s column.

This is an excerpt of his comments on affordable housing.

There are, however, signs of change.

There is no question, for instance, that New Jersey has faced a housing crisis for low- and moderate-income families for decades; this reality led to the infamous Mount Laurel series of Supreme Court decisions mandating the provision of low-income housing.

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Tags: affordable-housing, COAH, Ending Homelessness, James-Farmer, Jr., supporitve-housing, Supportive Housing