Twenty-two New Jersey municipalities are urging the courts to pause enforcement of a recent state law mandating affordable housing targets, arguing it unfairly burdens suburban areas while exempting many urban communities. The lawsuit, spearheaded by Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali and backed by mayors like Christine Serrano Glassner of Mendham Borough, aims to invalidate the law, which outlines affordable housing requirements through 2035.
Earlier this month, 13 towns joined an initial group of nine to form the coalition, claiming the law’s mandate to build affordable units fails to account for the actual development capacity of each municipality. The towns allege the law imposes unrealistic housing targets on suburban areas while allowing 62 urban aid municipalities—such as Jersey City, Hoboken, and Newark—to bypass these requirements due to factors like high population density and income restrictions.
The New Jersey law seeks to add more than 84,000 affordable homes to suburban areas, with each of about 500 municipalities expected to meet individualized targets or propose alternative plans for approval by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. However, according to Mike Hayes in an article published on Gothamist, the plaintiffs argue that suburban towns like Montvale lack the necessary land to accommodate new affordable housing developments. Mayor Ghassali argues that exempted urban areas are already engaged in affordable housing projects, suggesting these units should contribute toward state targets.
The coalition asserts that the state’s affordable housing rules violate constitutional fairness by selectively applying them to certain towns while exempting others, creating what Glassner describes as an “unjust bias against the suburbs.” The towns are requesting the law’s suspension to allow further legal deliberation, a move that could impact New Jersey’s broader strategy to address its estimated 200,000-unit affordable housing deficit.
Adam Gordon, executive director of the Fair Share Housing Center, a nonprofit that negotiates affordable housing plans statewide, contends the towns challenging the law are misrepresenting the issue, emphasizing that urban aid municipalities are expected to add over 40,000 units through rehabilitation of existing housing stock.
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, named as a defendant in the lawsuit, is scheduled to respond to the court in mid-November.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.