Whole State, Not Just Meadowlands, Needs Help
Senator Christopher “Kip” Bateman, District 16, said this after seeing an article in the Star-Ledger of Newark that says the Meadowlands Commission will form a task force and provide grants to help towns in its jurisdiction cope with higher quotas and complex rules for the construction of affordable housing:
“The Meadowlands Commission’s decision to form a task force and provide financial aid is more proof that the new rules are huge, unfunded, and complex mandates imposed on local governments by misguided state bureaucrats.
“Joseph Doria, commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, is also head of the Meadowlands Commission. He has endorsed and defended these new rules imposed by the Council on Affordable Housing. He also helped orchestrate the assistance offered to towns by the Meadowlands Commission.
“If these rules are so complex and onerous that Doria believes the Meadowlands Commission must commit resources and staff, then why doesn’t every other New Jersey community need similar assistance with their development plans?
“COAH’s ill-conceived rules threaten to stall or block economic development projects that took years of painstaking planning by local government and substantial financial commitments by private investors.
“The mayors of towns in the Meadowlands are right to seek assistance, but Xanadu isn’t the only project threatened by these rules. Other communities must get access to similar resources to proceed with their projects without crippling delays.
“Local officials should get reassurances immediately that the new rules will not affect long-standing plans for development resulting from Bader Field construction in Atlantic City, the Millville racetrack, the Fort Monmouth revitalization, Harrison’s MetroStars soccer stadium or the expansion of Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrence.
“The legal challenges to these new rules are just beginning. Rather than spur sensible construction of needed housing, these rules will merely stall economic development at a time when our state desperately needs it.
“Governor Corzine’s administration and the Democrats must be held accountable for the consequences of this bureaucratic scheme. I urge COAH to convene and reverse its decision to impose these rules. If not, then I urge my colleagues in the Legislature to intervene, either to ban the implementation of these rules or to do the right thing and provide the billions of dollars in resources needed to finance this unfunded mandate.”
Link to Post:
http://www.senatenj.com/index.php/bateman/bateman-why-just-one-coah-task-force/662
Similar Posts:
- Bateman: Court Should Block New Housing Rules
July 15, 2008 - Bateman: Housing Law Hurts Both Suburban And Urban
July 17, 2008 - Legislators Create Task Force to Examine Unfunded State Mandates
May 19, 2008 - Lance: New COAH Law Promotes Sprawl, Congestion & Pollution
August 6, 2008 - Haines, Rudder & Addiego: COAH Killing Economic Development And Job Growth
August 6, 2008
