Bill Text: NJ A1871 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires COAH to calculate affordable housing obligations on Statewide basis.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 11-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-14 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing Committee [A1871 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A1871-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman HOLLY T. SCHEPISI
District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen McGuckin, Rooney, DiMaio, Assemblywoman N.Munoz, Assemblyman Clifton, Assemblywoman B.DeCroce, Assemblymen Bramnick, Thomson and S.Kean
SYNOPSIS
Requires COAH to calculate affordable housing obligations on Statewide basis.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the calculation of affordable housing obligations and amending P.L.1985, c.222.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 4 of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-304) is amended to read as follows:
4. As used in [this act] P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.):
a. "Council" means the Council on Affordable Housing established in [this act] P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.), which shall have primary jurisdiction for the administration of housing obligations in accordance with sound regional planning considerations in this State, and any successor body, temporary or otherwise, that obtains such primary jurisdiction.
b. "Housing region" means a geographic area of not less than two nor more than four contiguous, whole counties which exhibit significant social, economic and income similarities, and which constitute to the greatest extent practicable the primary metropolitan statistical areas as last defined by the United States Census Bureau prior to the effective date of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.).
c. "Low income housing" means housing affordable according to federal Department of Housing and Urban Development or other recognized standards for home ownership and rental costs and occupied or reserved for occupancy by households with a gross household income equal to 50% or less of the median gross household income for households of the same size within the housing region in which the housing is located.
d. "Moderate income housing" means housing affordable according to federal Department of Housing and Urban Development or other recognized standards for home ownership and rental costs and occupied or reserved for occupancy by households with a gross household income equal to more than 50% but less than 80% of the median gross household income for households of the same size within the housing region in which the housing is located.
e. "Resolution of participation" means a resolution adopted by a municipality in which the municipality chooses to prepare a fair share plan and housing element in accordance with [this act] P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.).
f. "Inclusionary development" means a residential housing development in which a substantial percentage of the housing units are provided for a reasonable income range of low and moderate income households.
g. "Conversion" means the conversion of existing commercial, industrial, or residential structures for low and moderate income housing purposes where a substantial percentage of the housing units are provided for a reasonable income range of low and moderate income households.
h. "Development" means any development for which permission may be required pursuant to the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.).
i. "Agency" means the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency established by P.L.1983, c.530 (C.55:14K-1 et seq.).
j. "Prospective need" means a projection of housing needs based on development and growth which is reasonably likely to occur in a region or a municipality, as the case may be, as a result of actual determination of public and private entities. In determining prospective need, consideration shall be given to approvals of development applications, real property transfers and economic projections prepared by the State Planning Commission established by sections 1 through 12 of P.L.1985, c.398 (C.52:18A-196 et seq.).
k. "Disabled person" means a person with a physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement which is caused by bodily injury, birth defect, aging or illness including epilepsy and other seizure disorders, and which shall include, but not be limited to, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical coordination, blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech impediment or physical reliance on a service or guide dog, wheelchair, or other remedial appliance or device.
l. "Adaptable" means constructed in compliance with the technical design standards of the barrier free subcode adopted by the Commissioner of Community Affairs pursuant to the "State Uniform Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.) and in accordance with the provisions of section 5 of P.L.2005, c.350 (C.52:27D-123.15).
m. "Very low income housing" means housing affordable according to federal Department of Housing and Urban Development or other recognized standards for home ownership and rental costs and occupied or reserved for occupancy by households with a gross household income equal to 30% or less of the median gross household income for households of the same size within the housing region in which the housing is located.
(cf: P.L.2008, c.46, s.5)
2. Section 7 of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-307) is amended to read as follows:
7. It shall be the duty of the council, seven months after the confirmation of the last member initially appointed to the council, or January 1, 1986, whichever is earlier, and from time to time thereafter, to:
a. Determine housing regions of the State;
b. Estimate the present and prospective need for low and moderate income housing at the State and regional levels;
c. Adopt criteria and guidelines for:
(1) [Municipal] Statewide determination of [its] present and prospective fair share of the housing need in a given region which shall be computed for a 10-year period based on a growth-share calculation method determined by the growth of residential and non-residential development in the State.
The growth share calculation method shall include foreclosed and abandoned property, exclude new housing starts during any administrative rules gap period or during prior round rules adopted by the Council, and shall not exceed five percent of the Statewide housing stock existing when the council makes the calculation.
[Municipal fair share shall be determined after crediting on a one-to-one basis each current unit of low and moderate income housing of adequate standard, including any such housing constructed or acquired as part of a housing program specifically intended to provide housing for low and moderate income households. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a municipality shall be entitled to a credit for a unit if it demonstrates that (a) the municipality issued a certificate of occupancy for the unit, which was either newly constructed or rehabilitated between April 1, 1980 and December 15, 1986; (b) a construction code official certifies, based upon a visual exterior survey, that the unit is in compliance with pertinent construction code standards with respect to structural elements, roofing, siding, doors and windows; (c) the household occupying the unit certifies in writing, under penalty of perjury, that it receives no greater income than that established pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-304) to qualify for moderate income housing; and (d) the unit for which credit is sought is affordable to low and moderate income households under the standards established by the council at the time of filing of the petition for substantive certification. It shall be sufficient if the certification required in subparagraph (c) is signed by one member of the household. A certification submitted pursuant to this paragraph shall be reviewable only by the council or its staff and shall not be a public record;]
Nothing in P.L.1995, c.81 shall affect the validity of substantive certification granted by the council prior to November 21, 1994, or of a judgment of compliance entered by any court of competent jurisdiction prior to that date. Additionally, any municipality that received substantive certification or a judgment of compliance prior to November 21, 1994 and filed a motion prior to November 21, 1994 to amend substantive certification or a judgment of compliance for the purpose of obtaining credits, shall be entitled to a determination of its right to credits pursuant to the standards established by the Legislature prior to P.L.1995, c.81. Any municipality that filed a motion prior to November 21, 1994 for the purpose of obtaining credits, which motion was supported by the results of a completed survey performed pursuant to council rules, shall be entitled to a determination of its right to credits pursuant to the standards established by the Legislature prior to P.L.1995, c.81;
(2) [Municipal] Statewide adjustment of the present and prospective fair share based upon available vacant and developable land, infrastructure considerations or environmental or historic preservation factors and adjustments shall be made whenever:
(a) The preservation of historically or important architecture and sites and their environs or environmentally sensitive lands may be jeopardized,
(b) The established pattern of development in the community would be drastically altered,
(c) Adequate land for recreational, conservation or agricultural and farmland preservation purposes would not be provided,
(d) Adequate open space would not be provided,
(e) The pattern of development is contrary to the planning designations in the State Development and Redevelopment Plan prepared pursuant to sections 1 through 12 of P.L.1985, c.398 (C.52:18A-196 et seq.),
(f) Vacant and developable land is not available [in the municipality], and
(g) Adequate public facilities and infrastructure capacities are not available, or would result in costs prohibitive to the public if provided.
(3) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1993, c.31).
d. Provide population and household projections for the State and housing regions;
e. [In its discretion, place a limit, based on a percentage of existing housing stock in a municipality and any other criteria including employment opportunities which the council deems appropriate, upon the aggregate number of units which may be allocated to a municipality as its fair share of the region's present and prospective need for low and moderate income housing. No municipality shall be required to address a fair share of housing units affordable to households with a gross household income of less than 80% of the median gross household income beyond 1,000 units within ten years from the grant of substantive certification, unless it is demonstrated, following objection by an interested party and an evidentiary hearing, based upon the facts and circumstances of the affected municipality that it is likely that the municipality through its zoning powers could create a realistic opportunity for more than 1,000 low and moderate income units within that ten-year period. For the purposes of this section, the facts and circumstances which shall determine whether a municipality's fair share shall exceed 1,000 units, as provided above, shall be a finding that the municipality has issued more than 5,000 certificates of occupancy for residential units in the ten-year period preceding the petition for substantive certification in connection with which the objection was filed.
For the purpose of crediting low and moderate income housing units in order to arrive at a determination of present and prospective fair share, as set forth in paragraph (1) of subsection c. of this section, housing units comprised in a community residence for the developmentally disabled, as defined in section 2 of P.L.1977, c.448 (C.30:11B-2), shall be fully credited pursuant to rules promulgated or to be promulgated by the council, to the extent that the units are affordable to persons of low and moderate income and are available to the general public.
The council, with respect to any municipality seeking substantive certification, shall require that a minimum percentage of housing units in any residential development resulting from a zoning change made to a previously non-residentially-zoned property, where the change in zoning precedes or follows the application for residential development by no more than 24 months, be reserved for occupancy by low or moderate income households, which percentage shall be determined by the council based on economic feasibility with consideration for the proposed density of development.
In carrying out the above duties, including, but not limited to, present and prospective need estimations the council shall give appropriate weight to pertinent research studies, government reports, decisions of other branches of government, implementation of the State Development and Redevelopment Plan prepared pursuant to sections 1 through 12 of P.L.1985, c.398 (C.52:18A-196 et seq.) and public comment. To assist the council, the State Planning Commission established under that act shall provide the council annually with economic growth, development and decline projections for each housing region for the next ten years. The council shall develop procedures for periodically adjusting regional need based upon the low and moderate income housing that is provided in the region through any federal, State, municipal or private housing program.
No housing unit subject to the provisions of section 5 of P.L.2005, c.350 (C.52:27D-123.15) and to the provisions of the barrier free subcode adopted by the Commissioner of Community Affairs pursuant to the "State Uniform Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.) shall be eligible for inclusion in the municipal fair share plan certified by the council unless the unit complies with the requirements set forth thereunder.]
The council shall submit a report every five years on housing affordability. The report shall calculate the ratio of the median cost to maintain the home, including property taxes, mortgage rates and payments, insurance, cost of utilities, and other necessary factors in the discretion of the council, to the median income for the State. This report shall be used to update the growth-share calculation made pursuant to subsection c. of this section each time the council issues a report.
(cf: P.L.2008, c.46, s.6)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would change the calculation of affordable housing obligations to a Statewide perspective rather than a local level. In addition, under the bill, the Council on Affordable Housing would submit a report every five years on housing affordability. The report would calculate the ratio of the median cost, including property taxes, mortgage rates and payments, insurance, cost of utilities, and other necessary factors in the discretion of the council, to maintain the home to the median income for the State. This report would be used to update the growth-share calculation each time the council issues a report.
