Assembly bill 500, which would eliminate the use of regional contribution agreements as a way for suburban towns to meet their affordable housing obligation, is now in the hands of the state Senate.
The bill, a first step toward reforming the state’s affordable housing program, comes at a time when most suburban communities in the state are challenging a rule proposal put forward by the state Council on Affordable Housing that would dramatically increase the housing obligation created by new warehouse construction.
A500, as I said, is a good first step, but it has its flaws — read my recent posts or our editorial.
State Sen. Bill Baroni — whose 14th District includes Cranbury, Jamesburg, Monroe, Plainsboro, South Brunswick and West Windsor among towns covered by Packet Publications — also sees flaws in the bill. In a conversation today, he told me that he was working in the Senate to address the warehousing issue, especially as it pertains to Cranbury.
The warehousing formula, as he says, is “not even close to being based on science — there is no data to support it.” Plus, he adds, the retroactive nature of the rules — which require towns to factor in development that occurred as far back at 2004 — contradicts the planning basis on which the Mount Laurel decisions were made.
“One of the goals of the Mount Laurel decisions was to have towns plan better, to make sure that they plan for affordable housing in their towns,” he said. “Retroactivity runs counter to that smart-growth approach and I have a problem with that.”
He said the final product needs to respect the “core moral responsibility of providing affordable housing,” but also respect the needs of local towns.
He said he agrees with criticism of RCAs, but he would prefer to see them phased out over time.
“I don’t think you can go cold turkey with RCAs,” he said. “Donor and receiving towns have been dependent on them for too long.”
The Legislature, he says, has a potentially larger issue to address, however, one that could create new constitutional complications — that of shrinking space. I asked him about towns that are at or close to build out but that are considered by COAH to be developing. A town like Cranbury, or even South Brunswick, is fast running out of buildable land in no small part because of municipal commitments to open-space preservation. COAH, however, has not generally factored in preserved land.
It creates a conflict that should be resolved sooner rather than later.
“How do we provide affordable housing, keeping the commitment we’ve made, but also recognize that there are economic, health and space issues that towns have already run into?” he asked. “At what point, do you say we can do no more
“At one point, you will have a clash between affordable housing and open space. If trends that are apparent now don’t change, you will have towns faced with requirements to build but the only space available would be the open space.”
The conflict does not lend itself to a simple answer.
Hank Kalet 