Millburn Township’s Affordable Housing Obligation
Millburn Township’s affordable housing obligation is a prominent interest to many residents, including us. It’s important that we discuss Millburn’s obligation with the appropriate context.
How we got here:
Every municipality in New Jersey is required to provide affordable housing. The number of affordable housing units depends on a number of factors. Millburn, under successive Republican administrations, ignored state mandated affordable housing obligations. The delay has resulted in a situation where our current Township Committee has less flexibility. The reality is that Millburn has, under the current law, an obligation it must fulfill. Unfortunately, we can’t go back in time, so we must confront our current reality.
More lawsuits aren’t the answer:
More lawsuits and litigation aren’t the answer. When municipalities attempt to fight their affordable housing obligations, they almost universally lose. When a municipality loses, they also lose their protection from more developer lawsuits and further control of the process. It is important to remember that affordable housing obligations are not optional. Towns must comply.
For example, Englewood, NJ tried to litigate its affordable housing obligations. This is what happens when municipalities attempt to re-litigate or litigate their mandated affordable housing obligations:
A settlement requiring them to build another 50 units than initially planned on the site in question.
Now, they are attempting to go back to court and have earmarked another $1.8 million to spend on legal fees.
The Englewood Planning Board was completely stripped of control over one of the projects, meaning they potentially will have no say in how the project is actually built.
We believe that the millions that would need to be spent to fight a case, and in all likelihood lose, would be better spend on our roads, infrastructure, supporting small business and improving parks.
This approach differs from our opponent. Our opponent has demonstrated that he is willing to use the courts to cost Millburn-Short Hills taxpayers money. He is currently suing Millburn Township over affordable housing and the construction of a memorial to honor the victims of 9-11. Further, our opponent has filed lawsuits in several other municipalities, all of which have been thrown out of court on their merits and in one case led to defamation lawsuit against him. One judge ruled that our opponent, “has demonstrated he is the quintessential interloper courts have historically found lack standing to challenge an action taken by a municipality.”
What we’ll do:
Affordable housing is important. It helps those who are very much a part of the Millburn-Short Hills community–teachers, firefighters, seniors, police–live here. It also provides a place for young professionals and families to put down roots.
The reality is, New Jersey’s affordable housing laws need to be fixed. They allow developers to control too much of the process–not our community. We will advocate at all levels of government to fix our affordable housing laws, while making sure that Millburn Township doesn’t face more lawsuits that waste taxpayer dollars.
Together, we can take a practical and thoughtful approach to affordable housing within the legal constraints that all New Jersey municipalities face when it comes to affordable housing.