Late last year Gov. Corzine signed an amendment to the Fair Housing Act which had some major impacts to local towns. These changes ended RCAs (which let towns pay other towns to meet their requirements) and increased the amount of units needed to be built. Five local towns have filed an appeal, this include Cherry Hill, Evesham, Medford, Mount Laurel and West Deptford.
via the Courier Post:
"The three main complaints of the lawsuit, according to coordinator Michael F. Cerra, challenge COAH's methodology for producing the mandated numbers; its failure to account for state and local initiatives, like open space and local zoning; and its ignorance of the Fair Housing Act, which states affordable development should not burden taxpayers.
Medford, which is required to build 271 affordable units, was one of the first towns in the state to file a separate court appeal, according to its COAH attorney Ron Morgan. The township doesn't have the sewer capacity to hold that additional number of units and is challenging COAH's mapping, Morgan said. "The numbers are completely unrealistic," he said. "The vacant land maps COAH used are completely off the wall, with areas of Lenape High School marked as potentially developable."
At least 60 tri-county municipalities have not filed affordable housing development plans with the state, while 39 in the tri-county, including Cherry Hill, Evesham, Medford, Mt. Laurel and West Deptford, have joined in the League of Municipalities in appealing 24 of COAH's policies."
To learn more visit The New Jersey League of Municiplities website
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