Bill Text: NJ S3381 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires COAH to credit municipalities with units against fair share affordable housing obligation for certain types of housing; provides certain types of affordable housing units will be credited as two units.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-06-29 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [S3381 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S3381-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator GERALD CARDINALE
District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires COAH to credit municipalities with units against fair share affordable housing obligation for certain types of housing; provides certain types of affordable housing units will be credited as two units.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning affordable housing and amending P.L.1985, c.222.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 4 of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-304) is amended to read as follows:
4. As used in [this act] P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.):
a. "Council" means the Council on Affordable Housing established in [this act] P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.), which shall have primary jurisdiction for the administration of housing obligations in accordance with sound regional planning considerations in this State, and any successor body, temporary or otherwise, that obtains such primary jurisdiction.
b. "Housing region" means a geographic area of not less than two nor more than four contiguous, whole counties which exhibit significant social, economic and income similarities, and which constitute to the greatest extent practicable the primary metropolitan statistical areas as last defined by the United States Census Bureau prior to the effective date of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.).
c. "Low income housing" means housing affordable according to federal Department of Housing and Urban Development or other recognized standards for home ownership and rental costs and occupied or reserved for occupancy by households with a gross household income equal to 50% or less of the median gross household income for households of the same size within the housing region in which the housing is located.
d. "Moderate income housing" means housing affordable according to federal Department of Housing and Urban Development or other recognized standards for home ownership and rental costs and occupied or reserved for occupancy by households with a gross household income equal to more than 50% but less than 80% of the median gross household income for households of the same size within the housing region in which the housing is located.
e. "Resolution of participation" means a resolution adopted by a municipality in which the municipality chooses to prepare a fair share plan and housing element in accordance with [this act] P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.).
f. "Inclusionary development" means a residential housing development in which a substantial percentage of the housing units are provided for a reasonable income range of low and moderate income households.
g. "Conversion" means the conversion of existing commercial, industrial, or residential structures for low and moderate income housing purposes where a substantial percentage of the housing units are provided for a reasonable income range of low and moderate income households.
h. "Development" means any development for which permission may be required pursuant to the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.).
i. "Agency" means the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency established by P.L.1983, c.530 (C.55:14K-1 et seq.).
j. "Prospective need" means a projection of housing needs based on development and growth which is reasonably likely to occur in a region or a municipality, as the case may be, as a result of actual determination of public and private entities. In determining prospective need, consideration shall be given to approvals of development applications, real property transfers and economic projections prepared by the State Planning Commission established by sections 1 through 12 of P.L.1985, c.398 (C.52:18A-196 et seq.).
k. "Disabled person" means a person with a physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement which is caused by bodily injury, birth defect, aging or illness including epilepsy and other seizure disorders, and which shall include, but not be limited to, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical coordination, blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech impediment or physical reliance on a service or guide dog, wheelchair, or other remedial appliance or device.
l. "Adaptable" means constructed in compliance with the technical design standards of the barrier free subcode adopted by the Commissioner of Community Affairs pursuant to the "State Uniform Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.) and in accordance with the provisions of section 5 of P.L.2005, c.350 (C.52:27D-123.15).
m. "Very low income housing" means housing affordable according to federal Department of Housing and Urban Development or other recognized standards for home ownership and rental costs and occupied or reserved for occupancy by households with a gross household income equal to 30% or less of the median gross household income for households of the same size within the housing region in which the housing is located.
(cf: P.L.2008, c.46, s.5)
2. Section 7 of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-307) is amended to read as follows:
7. It shall be the duty of the council, seven months after the confirmation of the last member initially appointed to the council, or January 1, 1986, whichever is earlier, and from time to time thereafter, to:
a. Determine housing regions of the State;
b. Estimate the present and prospective need for low and moderate income housing at the State and regional levels;
c. Adopt criteria and guidelines for:
(1) Municipal determination of its present and prospective fair share of the housing need in a given region which shall be computed for a 10-year period.
Municipal fair share shall be determined after crediting on a one-to-one basis each current unit of low and moderate income housing of adequate standard, including any such housing constructed or acquired as part of a housing program specifically intended to provide housing for low and moderate income households. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a municipality shall be entitled to a credit for a unit if it demonstrates that (a) the municipality issued a certificate of occupancy for the unit, which was either newly constructed or rehabilitated between April 1, 1980 and December 15, 1986; (b) a construction code official certifies, based upon a visual exterior survey, that the unit is in compliance with pertinent construction code standards with respect to structural elements, roofing, siding, doors and windows; (c) the household occupying the unit certifies in writing, under penalty of perjury, that it receives no greater income than that established pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-304) to qualify for moderate income housing; and (d) the unit for which credit is sought is affordable to low and moderate income households under the standards established by the council at the time of filing of the petition for substantive certification. It shall be sufficient if the certification required in subparagraph (c) is signed by one member of the household. A certification submitted pursuant to this paragraph shall be reviewable only by the council or its staff and shall not be a public record;
Nothing in P.L.1995, c.81 shall affect the validity of substantive certification granted by the council prior to November 21, 1994, or of a judgment of compliance entered by any court of competent jurisdiction prior to that date. Additionally, any municipality that received substantive certification or a judgment of compliance prior to November 21, 1994 and filed a motion prior to November 21, 1994 to amend substantive certification or a judgment of compliance for the purpose of obtaining credits, shall be entitled to a determination of its right to credits pursuant to the standards established by the Legislature prior to P.L.1995, c.81. Any municipality that filed a motion prior to November 21, 1994 for the purpose of obtaining credits, which motion was supported by the results of a completed survey performed pursuant to council rules, shall be entitled to a determination of its right to credits pursuant to the standards established by the Legislature prior to P.L.1995, c.81;
(2) Municipal adjustment of the present and prospective fair share based upon available vacant and developable land, infrastructure considerations or environmental or historic preservation factors and adjustments shall be made whenever:
(a) The preservation of historically or important architecture and sites and their environs or environmentally sensitive lands may be jeopardized,
(b) The established pattern of development in the community would be drastically altered,
(c) Adequate land for recreational, conservation or agricultural and farmland preservation purposes would not be provided,
(d) Adequate open space would not be provided,
(e) The pattern of development is contrary to the planning designations in the State Development and Redevelopment Plan prepared pursuant to sections 1 through 12 of P.L.1985, c.398 (C.52:18A-196 et seq.),
(f) Vacant and developable land is not available in the municipality, and
(g) Adequate public facilities and infrastructure capacities are not available, or would result in costs prohibitive to the public if provided.
(3) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1993, c.31).
d. Provide population and household projections for the State and housing regions;
e. In its discretion, place a limit, based on a percentage of existing housing stock in a municipality and any other criteria including employment opportunities which the council deems appropriate, upon the aggregate number of units which may be allocated to a municipality as its fair share of the region's present and prospective need for low and moderate income housing. No municipality shall be required to address a fair share of housing units affordable to households with a gross household income of less than 80% of the median gross household income beyond 1,000 units within ten years from the grant of substantive certification, unless it is demonstrated, following objection by an interested party and an evidentiary hearing, based upon the facts and circumstances of the affected municipality that it is likely that the municipality through its zoning powers could create a realistic opportunity for more than 1,000 low and moderate income units within that ten-year period. For the purposes of this section, the facts and circumstances which shall determine whether a municipality's fair share shall exceed 1,000 units, as provided above, shall be a finding that the municipality has issued more than 5,000 certificates of occupancy for residential units in the ten-year period preceding the petition for substantive certification in connection with which the objection was filed.
For the purpose of crediting low and moderate income housing units in order to arrive at a determination of present and prospective fair share, as set forth in paragraph (1) of subsection c. of this section, housing units comprised in a community residence for the developmentally disabled, as defined in section 2 of P.L.1977, c.448 (C.30:11B-2), shall be fully credited pursuant to subsection f. of this section and rules promulgated or to be promulgated by the council, to the extent that the units are affordable to persons of low and moderate income and are available to the general public.
The council, with respect to any municipality seeking substantive certification, shall require that a minimum percentage of housing units in any residential development resulting from a zoning change made to a previously non-residentially-zoned property, where the change in zoning precedes or follows the application for residential development by no more than 24 months, be reserved for occupancy by low or moderate income households, which percentage shall be determined by the council based on economic feasibility with consideration for the proposed density of development.
In carrying out the above duties, including, but not limited to, present and prospective need estimations the council shall give appropriate weight to pertinent research studies, government reports, decisions of other branches of government, implementation of the State Development and Redevelopment Plan prepared pursuant to sections 1 through 12 of P.L.1985, c.398 (C.52:18A-196 et seq.) and public comment. To assist the council, the State Planning Commission established under that act shall provide the council annually with economic growth, development and decline projections for each housing region for the next ten years. The council shall develop procedures for periodically adjusting regional need based upon the low and moderate income housing that is provided in the region through any federal, State, municipal or private housing program.
No housing unit subject to the provisions of section 5 of P.L.2005, c.350 (C.52:27D-123.15) and to the provisions of the barrier free subcode adopted by the Commissioner of Community Affairs pursuant to the "State Uniform Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.) shall be eligible for inclusion in the municipal fair share plan certified by the council unless the unit complies with the requirements set forth thereunder.
f. For the purpose of crediting against a fair share obligation, the council shall permit a municipality to satisfy no less than:
(1) two units of its fair share obligation for each unit of housing restricted for very low income households, as that term is defined pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-304);
(2) two units of its fair share obligation for each unit of housing located in a special needs housing project, as that term is defined in section 2 of P.L.2004, c.70 (C.34:1B-21.24); and
(3) one unit of its fair share obligation for each bedroom in a community residence which is affordable to persons of low and moderate income. For the purposes of this section, "community residence" means a shared living environment that provides housing and treatment or specialized services needed to assist individuals with special needs to live in community settings, but which is not considered a health care facility within the meaning of the "Health Care Facilities Planning Act," P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.) and shall include, but not be limited to, group homes, halfway houses, supervised apartment living arrangements, hostels, and community residences for the developmentally disabled, as defined in section 2 of P.L.1977, c.448 (C.30:11B-2).
(cf: P.L.2008, c.46, s.6)
3. Section 11 of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-311) is amended to read as follows:
11. a. In adopting its housing element, the municipality may provide for its fair share of low and moderate income housing by means of any technique or combination of techniques which provide a realistic opportunity for the provision of the fair share. The housing element shall contain an analysis demonstrating that it will provide such a realistic opportunity, and the municipality shall establish that its land use and other relevant ordinances have been revised to incorporate the provisions for low and moderate income housing. In preparing the housing element, the municipality shall consider the following techniques for providing low and moderate income housing within the municipality, as well as such other techniques as may be published by the council or proposed by the municipality:
(1) Rezoning for densities necessary to assure the economic viability of any inclusionary developments, either through mandatory set-asides or density bonuses, as may be necessary to meet all or part of the municipality's fair share in accordance with the regulations of the council and the provisions of subsection h. of this section;
(2) Determination of the total residential zoning necessary to assure that the municipality's fair share is achieved;
(3) Determination of measures that the municipality will take to assure that low and moderate income units remain affordable to low and moderate income households for an appropriate period of not less than six years;
(4) A plan for infrastructure expansion and rehabilitation if necessary to assure the achievement of the municipality's fair share of low and moderate income housing;
(5) Donation or use of municipally owned land or land condemned by the municipality for purposes of providing low and moderate income housing;
(6) Tax abatements for purposes of providing low and moderate income housing;
(7) Utilization of funds obtained from any State or federal subsidy toward the construction of low and moderate income housing;
(8) Utilization of municipally generated funds toward the construction of low and moderate income housing; and
(9) The purchase of privately owned real property used for residential purposes at the value of all liens secured by the property, excluding any tax liens, notwithstanding that the total amount of debt secured by liens exceeds the appraised value of the property, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Commissioner of Community Affairs pursuant to subsection b. of section 41 of P.L.2000, c.126 (C.52:27D-311.2).
b. The municipality may provide for a phasing schedule for the achievement of its fair share of low and moderate income housing.
c. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2008, c.46)
d. Nothing in P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.) shall require a municipality to raise or expend municipal revenues in order to provide low and moderate income housing.
e. When a municipality's housing element includes the provision of rental housing units in a community residence for the developmentally disabled, as defined in section 2 of P.L.1977, c.448 (C.30:11B-2), which will be affordable to persons of low and moderate income, and for which adequate measures to retain such affordability pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection a. of this section are included in the housing element, those housing units shall be fully credited in accordance with section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill and as permitted under the rules of the council towards the fulfillment of the municipality's fair share of low and moderate income housing.
f. It having been determined by the Legislature that the provision of housing under P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.) is a public purpose, a municipality or municipalities may utilize public monies to make donations, grants or loans of public funds for the rehabilitation of deficient housing units and the provision of new or substantially rehabilitated housing for low and moderate income persons, providing that any private advantage is incidental.
g. A municipality which has received substantive certification from the council, and which has actually effected the construction of the affordable housing units it is obligated to provide, may amend its affordable housing element or zoning ordinances without the approval of the council.
h. Whenever affordable housing units are proposed to be provided through an inclusionary development, a municipality shall provide, through its zoning powers, incentives to the developer, which shall include increased densities and reduced costs, in accordance with the regulations of the council and this subsection.
i. The council, upon the application of a municipality and a developer, may approve reduced affordable housing set-asides or increased densities to ensure the economic feasibility of an inclusionary development.
j. A municipality may enter into an agreement with a developer or residential development owner to provide a preference for affordable housing to low to moderate income veterans who served in time of war or other emergency, as defined in section 1 of P.L.1963, c.171 (C.54:4-8.10), of up to 50 percent of the affordable units in that particular project. This preference shall be established in the applicant selection process for available affordable units so that applicants who are veterans who served in time of war or other emergency, as referenced in this subsection, and who apply within 90 days of the initial marketing period shall receive preference for the rental of the agreed-upon percentage of affordable units. After the first 90 days of the initial 120-day marketing period, if any of those units subject to the preference remain available, then applicants from the general public shall be considered for occupancy. Following the initial 120-day marketing period, previously qualified applicants and future qualified applicants who are veterans who served in time of war or other emergency, as referenced in this subsection, shall be placed on a special waiting list as well as the general waiting list. The veterans on the special waiting list shall be given preference for affordable units, as the units become available, whenever the percentage of preference-occupied units falls below the agreed upon percentage. Any agreement to provide affordable housing preferences for veterans pursuant to this subsection shall not affect a municipality's ability to receive credit for the unit from the council, or its successor.
(cf: P.L.2013, c.6, s.1)
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides municipalities with credit against their fair share affordable housing obligation for bedrooms in community residences and provides that certain types of affordable housing units will be credited as two units.
Under the provisions of the bill, the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), or its successor body, would credit one unit toward a municipality's fair share obligation for each bedroom in a community residence. The bill defines a "community residence" as a group home, supervised apartment, or other type of shared living environment that provides housing and treatment or specialized services needed to assist individuals with special needs to live in community settings, but which is not considered a health care facility. The term includes, but is not limited to, group homes, halfway houses, supervised apartment living arrangements, hostels, and community residences for the developmentally disabled.
The bill also requires COAH to credit at least two units toward a municipality's fair share obligation for each unit of housing restricted for very low income households and each unit of special needs housing.
