TRENTON—Chris Daggett, independent candidate for Governor, today unveiled a comprehensive plan for overhauling New Jerseys affordable housing policies to prevent sprawl and to more closely align the goals with the objectives of the State Plan.
In unveiling a detailed housing policy, Daggett said affordable housing needs to be located in centers and along transit corridors with ready access to jobs, transportation and recreation opportunities. The creation of affordable housing units should not conflict with other state policies, such as smart growth, open space preservation and infrastructure investment.
"After 35 years, the landmark Mt. Laurel doctrine requiring municipalities to provide a fair share of affordable housing remains sound, but conditions are very different today," Daggett said. "It is time to develop affordable strategies that can be seamlessly woven into the fabric of State Plan policies and promote, rather than undermine, its goals."
Too often, the states current affordable housing regulations are driven by false assumptions and fail to account for new population trends, he said. The state Council on Affordable Housing projects 52,000 new jobs will be created every year when, in fact, 65,700 jobs have been lost in New Jersey in the last five years, Daggett said.
To ascertain the real housing needs, Daggett would convene a Housing Policy Task Force, comprised of all housing stakeholders, to gather facts and accurate, updated data on housing trends, foreclosures in New Jersey, and other information needed to address the needs of workforce housing.
His plan would also mandate that once fair share housing obligations are met, a communitys zoning could not be overridden by court decisions. An appellate court decision regarding a case from Easthampton in Burlington County last month affirmed that affordable housing must be deemed an "inherently beneficial" use when local governmental bodies consider applications for zoning variances. The ruling has led many local and state officials to be concerned that such a ruling will lead to zoning being overturned to accommodate affordable housing even in COAH compliant communities.
The housing policy recommends restoring Regional Contribution Agreements, a practice where towns satisfied their affordable housing obligations by paying other communities to build housing units, on the condition it results in new housing units in the host municipality.
"These agreements can fuel urban reinvestment and allow opportunities for affordable housing to be built in mass transit served suburban communities," Daggett said. "RCAs for new units should be permitted statewide."
The plan also proposes that government should take advantage of current declining housing values to increase the supply of affordable housing before the next housing market upswing. Such market-driven strategies could include conversions of single-family homes to two-family homes. Single family conversions make more efficient use of existing housing resources and public infrastructure.
In addition, families who are in foreclosure prevention programs and in danger of losing their homes should be deemed exempt from COAHs affirmative marketing obligations, not forced to move out and participate in a lottery for their own homes, as is the case today, Daggett said.
Finally, the plan recognizes the increasingly important role passenger rail will play in achieving smart growth goals. His plan proposes New Jersey invest in improving and expanding passenger rail service along existing commuter lines and reactivating lines that were discontinued during the time when the sprawl trend took hold.
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Chris Daggett responds to what's on everyone's mindby nfsomers325 views
With MERS and the Federal Home Loan Banks, the National Housing Conference produced a new video designed for affordable housing advocates and practitioners. It’s called “Housing’s New Era” and free presentation-quality DVD copies are available upon request. NHC hopes that folks will use it at the local level to convey a simple, positive message around affordable housing. Take a look by entering "Housing's New Era" in YouTube's search engine. And email tokeefe@nhc.org to order a free copy.
CollingwoodComm 1 year ago