Attorney works to resolve affordable housing issues
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

JACKSON - Attorney John Russo brought members of the Planning Board up to speed on where Jackson stands as the municipality seeks to comply with state affordable housing regulations.

Russo, who represents Jackson in matters concerning affordable housing, addressed the board at its Aug. 7 meeting.

The state defines affordable housing as housing that is sold or rented at below market prices to people whose income meets regional guidelines established by the state. Communities in New Jersey are required to provide a certain amount of affordable housing units.

"The township has asked me to assess the [affordable housing] situation so that we can establish what Jackson needs to do to seek court approval for a second-round affordable housing plan," Russo said. "In that capacity, I uncovered a series of outstanding items that needed to be resolved before the township is in a position to seek the second-round ap-proval from the court."

Russo said that in the spring, the township appeared before (now retired) state Superior Court Judge Eugene Serpentelli on two occasions in an effort to resolve several outstanding matters and was successful in that regard.

He said that on June 21, Serpentelli entered an order that gave Jackson 120 days to prepare a housing element, adopt it, have the township prepare a fair share plan, adopt that, and submit those documents to the court for approval.

"Essentially a housing element and a fair share plan are the same document," Russo told the board. "The housing element is approved by the Planning Board as part of the township's master plan and the fair share plan is then approved by the Township Council. They are the township's official plan in order to satisfy the affordable housing obligation assigned by the state Council on Afford-able Housing (COAH)."

The cumulative obligation for the first and second rounds for Jackson was 1,323 units of affordable housing, Russo said.

"The township has done a number of things over the years to satisfy parts of that obligation," he noted. "Recently we secured court approval for just about 600 units of credit against that obligation."

Russo asked the board members to review the schedule so they know the timeline for what is involved. In this way they will be able to create a schedule to achieve what is necessary for the housing element adoption, he said.

Currently, a presentation of the draft housing element is scheduled for the Planning Board on Sept. 10. On Sept. 11 the same presentation for the fair share plan will be made to the Township Council.

Russo said a presentation will also be made to the Zoning Board of Adjustment at its October meeting even though it is not required.

"Then we will return to the Planning Board and ask for official action on the housing element on Oct. 1 and we will appear before the council at its meeting on Oct. 10," the attorney said. "At that point, hopefully the Planning Board will formally approve the plan and the council will formally approve it. Then I will have to submit it to the court by Oct. 19."

Russo said there are only a few items that still need to be addressed. Many of the 1,323 required affordable housing units have already been approved by the court, have been built, have been occupied and in some cases for many years, the attorney said.