Senator Sean T. Kean

August 31, 2009

Contact: Tara Fantini / (732) 974-0400
Senator Sean T. Kean (R-11)

Affordable Housing Laws Will Impact Monmouth County Municipalities

Senator Sean Kean denounced a recent Appellate Court ruling that will allow the developers of low income housing to bypass existing municipal zoning laws and affordable housing plans.

A recent ruling by the Superior Court, Appellate Division, found that the Township of Eastampton could not deny an application to construct affordable housing based on the fact that the town had complied with COAH. 

In the ruling, the Court held that affordable housing is an inherent benefit to the town and even though they previously fulfilled their affordable housing quota of 100 units, the town cannot prevent the developer from constructing additional homes.

“New Jersey needs affordable housing but this program is not based on a realistic assessment of towns’ ability to comply.  These rules will cause property taxes to soar.  I have opposed the most recent affordable housing rules all along and this court ruling will only add to the negative impact COAH will have on Monmouth County,” said Kean.  “This ruling has the potential to lead to overcrowded schools and even greater property tax increases in our area and across the state.”

The COAH rules require nearly 3,000 affordable housing units to be built in Monmouth County alone.  Wall Township will be required to construct 667 new affordable housing units by 2018.  Eatontown’s obligation is 490 units and Neptune Township will need to construct 309 units.

Kean said that no other state in the country has as onerous an affordable housing policy as the one New Jersey has adopted.  Kean said, “the plan relies on bad science and faulty numbers.  Land that has been set aside as open space was used to estimate additional affordable housing.  Also, any housing pre-existing 1980 and any federal affordable housing cannot be used as credit under the rules.

“Property taxpayers have already paid millions of dollars for affordable housing plans that have now been rendered useless,” said Kean.  “Now in addition to building nearly 2,500 units, 11th district towns could be required to provide even more affordable housing.”

Based on a statewide study that has since been found to be flawed, Governor Corzine called for the construction of more than 115,000 units of new subsidized housing across New Jersey, including the establishment of new quotas that every town has been forced to meet.  He signed Assembly Bill 500 into law in July of 2008 to implement his plan.

“The governor’s broken promises have left New Jersey towns with higher property taxes and vulnerable to expensive lawsuits from developers,” said Kean.  “The original COAH plan estimated that each household would be paying hundreds of dollars per year over the next decade and this court ruling may result in even higher taxes for New Jersey residents.”

An analysis by the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services estimated the cost to property taxpayers of enacting Governor Corzine’s affordable housing plan at $28.5 billion, an amount that will likely rise as a result of the court ruling.

Affordable Housing Laws Will Impact Monmouth County Municipalities Senator Sean Kean denounced a recent Appellate Court ruling that will allow the developers of low income housing to bypass existing municipal zoning laws and affordable housing plans. A recent ruling by the Superior Court, Appellate Division, found that [...]