Bill Text: NJ A414 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides that municipalities with minimum amounts of developable land may file certification with the Council on Affordabe Housing, even if no petition for substantive certification is filed.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 10-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-12 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee [A414 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A414-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman SCOTT T. RUMANA
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
Assemblyman DAVID C. RUSSO
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Rible, Assemblywoman Angelini, Assemblyman Biondi, Assemblywoman Vandervalk, Assemblyman DeCroce, Assemblywoman Casagrande, Assemblyman O'Scanlon and Assemblywoman N.Munoz
SYNOPSIS
Provides that municipalities with minimum amounts of developable land may file certification with the Council on Affordable Housing, even if no petition for substantive certification is filed.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act permitting municipalities to file lack of vacant land certifications concerning affordable housing, supplementing P.L.1985, c.398 (C.52:18A-196 et seq.) and supplementing and amending P.L.1985, c.222.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. The Office of State Planning shall establish a certification program for the purposes of assisting municipalities in which little vacant land is available in order to determine the feasibility of accommodating newly-constructed housing in that municipality.
b. A municipality may apply for a certificate from the Office of State Planning if it can demonstrate with verifiable data that developable land represents less than 10 percent of the total land mass of the municipality.
For the purposes of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), "developable land" means vacant land which is capable of supporting residential development in a manner compliant with all federal or State requirements for construction, and is not unsuitable for construction on any basis, including, but not limited to, any of the following bases: zoning restrictions, other than density requirements, but including requirements for lot dimensions or use; steep slopes; land preserved for open space; private land for which there are covenants running with the land restricting its use by certain landowners; reservations for open or recreational space in accordance with P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.) or regulations promulgated thereto; or sites which will impact upon or be affected by endangered species, wetlands, stream encroachments, watersheds, toxic waste, brownfields, or any other environmentally sensitive factors.
c. (1) The Office of State Planning shall review applications submitted pursuant to this section, and shall, within a reasonable time and upon verification of the criteria, issue a certificate to the municipality signifying its review and verification that the criteria of subsection b. of this section have been met.
(2) The Office of State Planning may revoke a certificate issued by it at any time, upon its determination that the criteria in subsection b. of this section were not met, or are no longer being met.
d. A certificate issued pursuant to this section shall expire upon the last day of the 120th month following its issuance.
2. (New section) a. The council shall accept from a municipality a certificate granted pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), regardless of whether the presenting municipality has petitioned for substantive certification with the council.
b. Upon a review of the information forming the basis of the certificate, the council shall adjust the calculation of the fair share housing obligation of the presenting municipality accordingly.
c. A municipality which has been granted a certificate pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be required to provide rental and rehabilitation programs for affordable housing within the municipality, but shall have no obligation under the "Fair Housing Act" to provide newly constructed units of housing during the period of the certification. A remedy for exclusionary zoning to a builder shall not be granted during the period of the certification granted pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
3. Section 11 of P.L.1985, c. 222 (C.52:27D-311) is amended to read as follows:
11. a. In adopting its housing element, the municipality may provide for its fair share of low and moderate income housing by means of any technique or combination of techniques which provide a realistic opportunity for the provision of the fair share. The housing element shall contain an analysis demonstrating that it will provide such a realistic opportunity, and the municipality shall establish that its land use and other relevant ordinances have been revised to incorporate the provisions for low and moderate income housing. In preparing the housing element, the municipality shall consider the following techniques for providing low and moderate income housing within the municipality, as well as such other techniques as may be published by the council or proposed by the municipality:
(1) Rezoning for densities necessary to assure the economic viability of any inclusionary developments, either through mandatory set-asides or density bonuses, as may be necessary to meet all or part of the municipality's fair share;
(2) Determination of the total residential zoning necessary to assure that the municipality's fair share is achieved;
(3) Determination of measures that the municipality will take to assure that low and moderate income units remain affordable to low and moderate income households for an appropriate period of not less than six years;
(4) A plan for infrastructure expansion and rehabilitation if necessary to assure the achievement of the municipality's fair share of low and moderate income housing;
(5) Donation or use of municipally owned land or land condemned by the municipality for purposes of providing low and moderate income housing;
(6) Tax abatements for purposes of providing low and moderate income housing;
(7) Utilization of funds obtained from any State or federal subsidy toward the construction of low and moderate income housing;
(8) Utilization of municipally generated funds toward the construction of low and moderate income housing; and
(9) The purchase of privately owned real property used for residential purposes at the value of all liens secured by the property; excluding any tax liens, notwithstanding that the total amount of debt secured by liens exceeds the appraised value of the property, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Commissioner of Community Affairs pursuant to subsection b. of section 41 of [P.L.2001] P.L.2000, c.126 (C.52:27D-311.2). No municipality shall be required by P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.), or by the council, to utilize its powers of eminent domain in order to meet its fair share obligation.
b. The municipality may provide for a phasing schedule for the achievement of its fair share of low and moderate income housing.
c. The municipality may propose that a portion of its fair share be met through a regional contribution agreement. The housing element shall demonstrate, however, the manner in which that portion will be provided within the municipality if the regional contribution agreement is not entered into. The municipality shall provide a statement of its reasons for the proposal.
d. Nothing in P.L.1985, c.222 shall require a municipality to raise or expend municipal revenues in order to provide low and moderate income housing.
e. When a municipality's housing element includes the provision of rental housing units in a community residence for the developmentally disabled, as defined in section 2 of P.L.1977, c.448 (C.30:11B-2), which will be affordable to persons of low and moderate income, and for which adequate measures to retain such affordability pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection a. of this section are included in the housing element, those housing units shall be fully credited as permitted under the rules of the council towards the fulfillment of the municipality's fair share of low and moderate income housing.
f. It having been determined by the Legislature that the provision of housing under this act is a public purpose, a municipality or municipalities may utilize public monies to make donations, grants or loans of public funds for the rehabilitation of deficient housing units and the provision of new or substantially rehabilitated housing for low and moderate income persons, providing that any private advantage is incidental.
g. A municipality which has received substantive certification from the council, and which has actually effected the construction of the affordable housing units it is obligated to provide, may amend its affordable housing element or zoning ordinances without the approval of the council.
(cf: P.L.2001, c.441, s.1)
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a method under which a municipality that has little or no vacant land that can be built upon, may submit to a process certifying that fact. Thereafter, the municipality may use that certification to require the Council on Affordable Housing to adjust its fair share housing obligation accordingly. This adjustment is required to be made by the council whether or not the municipality has submitted a petition for substantive certification. Municipalities that are built-out shall have no obligation for constructing new units of housing, but shall be permitted to meet their fair share obligation through the provision of rental programs or the rehabilitation of existing housing units, and without submitting to the council's process. Builder's remedy lawsuits are suspended during the period of the no vacant buildable land certification.
The bill creates a certification program in the Office of State Planning. Municipalities in which little or no vacant land is available may apply to the program to determine the feasibility of accommodating newly-constructed housing in that municipality. It is optional for a municipality to apply for the certificate. If a municipality can demonstrate with verifiable data that developable land is less than 10 percent of the total land mass of the municipality, then the Office of State Planning must grant the certificate.
Developable land is defined under the bill to mean vacant land which is capable of supporting residential development in a manner compliant with all federal or State requirements for construction, and is not unsuitable for construction on any basis, including, but not limited to, any of the following bases: zoning restrictions, other than density requirements, but including requirements for lot dimensions; steep slopes; land preserved for open space; private land for which there are covenants running with the land restricting its use by certain landowners; reservations for open or recreational space in accordance with the "Fair Housing Act" or regulations promulgated by the Council on Affordable Housing; or sites which will impact upon or be affected by endangered species, wetlands, stream encroachments, watersheds, toxic waste, brownfields, or any other environmentally sensitive factors. The bill also forbids the Council on Affordable Housing to require that a municipality use its power of eminent domain to meet a fair share housing obligation.
