One affordable housing legal battle settled, many more to go.
A state appeals court on July 11 sided with municipalities, a ruling that could result in a reduction of required affordable housing units. Municipalities successfully argued the calculation of affordable housing obligations should not include need accrued in the “gap period” years (1999 to 2015), a period when no affordable housing rules were in effect. The Fair Share Housing Center and the New Jersey Builders Association argued obligations should be retroactively added to the current and prospective need, which runs through the year 2025.
County superior courts have been overseeing affordable housing jurisdiction since a 2015 state Supreme Court ruling. West Windsor is currently engaged in litigation with FSHC to determine its affordable housing obligation. A decision by Mercer County Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson is scheduled for the fall, though that could be delayed until 2017.
FSHC and at least half a dozen developers are contesting the obligation figure in court. Developer Howard Hughes has also filed a separate suit contesting the viability of the upcoming projects that the township included in its affordable tally.
West Windsor officials supports more affordable housing, but not at the price of intensified development. It is common practice in New Jersey for municipalities to rely on private developers to build four market rate units for every affordable unit, also known as a 20 percent set aside.
West Windsor submitted an affordable housing plan to the judiciary last December that detailed how the township will provide for an affordable housing obligation of 1,000 units. The plan meets the obligation, according to the township, through a combination of completed developments, projects in the pipeline, and the rezoning of two 60-acre sites to accommodate 177 affordable units.
Howard Hughes’ 650-acre property is not included in the township’s affordable housing plan.
One of the rezoned properties is the 64-acre Garden Homes on Old Meadow Road, which is currently zoned for hotel and office use. Garden Commercial Properties is proposing 628 multi-family units there, 142 of which will be affordable rental units. The owner owns the Square at West Windsor and the adjacent 200-unit Windsor Woods Apartments.
The second site is the 61-acre American Properties parcel adjacent to the Institute of Islamic Studies site on Old Trenton Road. Most of the property is wetlands and is currently zoned RO-1, and the developer has presented a concept plan for 140 townhomes, 35 of which would be affordable units.
In Plainsboro last month, which under the jurisdiction of the Middlesex County Superior Court, the township has already reached a settlement to provide for 638 affordable units through 2025.
