Affordable housing remains an issue for 2 municipalities

An Appellate Court ruling on Jan. 25 that invalidated the state Council on Affordable Housing's (COAH) third-round methodology has left local officials up in the air as they must now wait for the council to recalculate the number of affordable housing units that will have to be provided through 2014.

Area municipalities were in different states of seeking third-round certification from COAH for their individual affordable housing plans.

Jackson Mayor Mark Seda said township officials had not yet submitted a plan to COAH for Jackson's third-round affordable housing obligation.

"Since 2004 when the third-round rules came out, the governing body at that time did nothing to address those issues. I don't know why. I can't explain it, because it's a huge obligation."

Seda said Jackson officials did attempt to satisfy the second-round rules, but that attempt was not finalized.

"When we [Seda's administration and the new Township Council] picked up on July 1 and I appointed new officials, my first order of business was to try and get a grasp on where we sit as it pertains to affordable housing," the mayor said. "We tried to be proactive, instead of waiting for the bomb to explode."

Howell Mayor Joseph DiBella said municipal officials had submitted a third-round plan to COAH and was in the objector phase, which means anyone who wanted to file an objection to the plan would be able to do so.

DiBella said Howell's plan would have been out of the objector phase on Feb. 14 and awaiting substantive certification from COAH.

In an unsolicited e-mail to the newspaper, Mayor Joseph DiBella said Howell is now "grappling with the madness" of the affordable housing rules.

"While the latest court ruling buys us time, I think our best course of action is to do what the developers do and take the matter to the courts," DiBella said. "Rather than pay another nickel of taxpayer money on this unfair and unreasonable set of rules, I think our town and others should go straight to the courts and seek relief.

"Provided our zoning laws do not regulate out affordable housing (and they do not), I think we should demand that we be freed up of this bureaucratic mound of red tape. We have tried everything else, including paying the mandated tens of thousands in legal fees already. The old way of doing things simply does not work. This is why I'll suggest that the Township Council support a move to fight the [COAH] rules and protect our town while we still can. Enough is enough," DiBella said.

Plumsted Mayor Ron Dancer said, "Plumsted is a municipality which does not have a [COAH] application in limbo."

The mayor said Plumsted did not go through the process of building affordable housing, instead it exercised what is known as the durational exception for lack of sewers in a designated town center.

"Plumsted is the only municipality among Ocean County's 33 municipalities that does not have public sewer service in some parts of its township. We fall under the durational adjustment exception."

Affordable housing, as defined by COAH, is housing that is sold or rented at below-market rates to people who have an income that qualifies under regional income guidelines set by the state.