Affordable Housing Special Meeting Set In Stafford

MANAHAWKIN, NJ — A special meeting will be held this week in Stafford Township on affordable housing.

The Township Council meeting is set for March 27 at 5:30 p.m. at 260 E. Bay Ave., according to public notice.

Its purpose is "to discuss the Affordable Housing Settlement Agreement," according to the notice. Formal action may be taken.

Mayor Bob Henken said that this meeting is the first legal step in the process to challenge the affordable housing numbers put forward by the state Department of Community Affairs.

Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law last March that was meant to change the way the number of mandatory affordable units are decided for municipalities, under the state Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel doctrine and the New Jersey Fair Housing Act. The state Department of Community Affairs released its first set of affordable housing obligations in October, setting out how many low- or moderate-income units that represents each town's "fair share."

All towns are constitutionally mandated to provide their "fair share" of affordable housing for the region, under the Mount Laurel Doctrine.

Stafford's obligation was 246 affordable housing units over the next decade. The township instead proposed they build 104, based on their own calculations.

This article contains additional reporting by Michelle Rotuno-Johnson.