Berkeley Approves State Affordable Housing Numbers

BERKELEY, NJ — Berkeley has approved the affordable housing numbers proposed by the state Department of Community Affairs to avoid potential legal action, officials said.

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."

In Berkeley, the present need is 150 units, and the prospective need is 209 housing units. "Present need" refers to existing housing units deemed substandard/deficient and in need of repair; and "prospective need" estimates the number of new units that will be needed based on population trends.

"We had to make a decision on whether we should appeal their numbers or not," said Business Administrator Scott Tirella. "And in looking at it, we could have lowered our numbers a little bit. But in order to lower the numbers, they would pull us inevitably into some type of legal action against us."

Tirella said the township has affordable housing credits, which under the new law can be used to meet their housing needs. Because of this, the township decided it was better to accept the state's numbers, Tirella said.

"This way there's no challenge, and we can move forward with our credits, and it doesn't change our affordable housing situation," he said.

This article contains additional reporting by Michelle Rotuno-Johnson.