Brick Submits Alternate Affordable Housing Numbers

BRICK, NJ — Brick Township has submitted its response to the affordable housing obligations set out by the state, with a future number significantly lower than what the state said the town can provide.

The state Department of Community Affairs released its calculations of affordable housing obligations in October, defining how many low- or moderate-income units each town will need to provide for the 2025-2035 timeframe.

According to the DCA, Brick Township's present need is 149 units and its prospective need is 360 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.

In a resolution approved Jan. 28, Brick Township accepted the present need number of 149 units, but submitted a prospective need of 29 units for the next 10 years.

"We've done our own GIS-based analysis of developable property within the town and we've come to the conclusion that the maximum that we could support is 29 new units," Council President Derrick Ambrosino said.

All towns are constitutionally mandated to provide their "fair share" of affordable housing for the region, under the Mount Laurel Doctrine, which dates back to 1975.

Towns had until Jan. 31 to approve the DCA quotas or submit their own calculations, and have until June 1 to come up with plans to meet the quotas. In most cases towns meet the obligations by requiring developers to include low- and moderate-income units in their real estate development proposals.

Low-income households are defined as those with earnings at or below 50 percent of county median family income. Moderate-income households earn between 50 and 80 percent of the median family income, according to DCA.

In Ocean County, the median household income is $85,464, according to Census Reporter, an independent organization that collates the U.S. Census Bureau information.