Legislators approve bill to abolish COAH

From the Courier Post

January 11, 2011

Legislators approve bill to abolish COAH

Associated Press

Lawmakers on Monday passed a measure to overhaul the state's much-maligned affordable-housing laws that have been at the center of a court battle since 1975.

The new measures would abolish the state Council on Affordable Housing, eliminate a 2.5 percent fee on commercial development and reduce some municipalities' obligations to provide housing for low- and moderate-income families.

New Jersey has struggled with how to provide low- and moderate-income housing since the 1975 court case known as the Mount Laurel decision successfully challenged exclusionary zoning in the Garden State.

In a series of decisions in the 1970s and '80s, New Jersey's Supreme Court outlawed zoning aimed at keeping out poor people and required communities to have plans that include space for low-income residents. The state formed the Council on Affordable Housing, or COAH, to oversee that requirement and decide how many affordable homes each town must provide.

But the political and bureaucratic implementation of the court's wishes has been anything but clear-cut.

The rulings set up a system where towns could file affordable housing plans with the state; those that didn't were subject to potential lawsuits from developers and others.

Officials in some communities blame those lawsuits for encouraging suburban sprawl. Meanwhile, mayors in many towns say COAH's oversight of their plans has slowed and in some cases prevented them from building affordable housing.

In May, the council proposed eliminating affordable housing quotas but an appeals court panel ruled in October that the state must return to its practice of providing each municipality with a specific number of required affordable housing units.

The appellate court gave the state five months to develop its new rules on how affordable housing obligations must be allocated.

The measure passed Monday keeps quotas in place but lowers the number required to 50,000 statewide from 116,000 over the next decade.

Most factions thought the bill, while imperfect, was an improvement over the existing law.

Kevin Walsh of the Fair Share Housing Center, which represents the interests of low-income residents, said the bill lets towns shirk their previous affordable housing obligation but was better than previous versions.

"The bill lets many wealthier suburban towns off the hook because it reduces their obligation so much that many will have already met it," Walsh said.