No More Affordable Housing Required In Livingston Until 2035, Officials Say (Here’s Why)

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Livingston has met its affordable housing quota for the next decade – with more than nine years to spare, town officials claim.

The Livingston Township Council has officially endorsed the town’s Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan. The council’s recent decision comes after a June hearing before the planning board.

Watch video footage from both meetings at the bottom of this article, and view the full plan here.

The town’s plan leans heavily on real estate projects that have already been approved and the use of bonus credits (see a breakdown below).

“This is the culmination of years of strategic planning, sound policymaking and successful negotiations,” Mayor Ed Meinhardt said.

“Livingston has taken every step legally required to meet our obligations,” Meinhardt added. “Every project the public has already heard about — that’s it.”

BACKGROUND

In October 2024, state officials released the affordable housing numbers that New Jersey towns and cities will have to meet over the next 10 years, including Livingston. The calculations include numbers for “present need” (existing housing units deemed substandard/deficient and in need of repair), and “prospective need” (the number of new units that will be needed based on population trends).

Here are the totals for Livingston:

• Present Need – zero
• Prospective Need – 461

Towns and cities don’t have to create the housing themselves, but must ensure that the threshold is met – often by requiring affordable housing units as part of local real estate development projects.

Other ways of meeting the quota include preserving existing affordable homes that are in danger of losing that status, and creating “mother-in-law” apartments, otherwise known as accessory dwelling units.

• See Related: Livingston Paves Way For Hundreds Of New Housing Units

LIVINGSTON OFFICIALS: 'HERE’S HOW WE DID IT'

Livingston officials released a detailed breakdown of how they reached their conclusions on Thursday. The following information comes via a statement from the Township of Livingston:

New State Law and Livingston’s Fourth Round Obligation

In March 2024, the New Jersey Legislature passed—and Governor Phil Murphy signed into law—comprehensive legislation governing affordable housing and establishing a formula to assign every municipality in the state an affordable housing obligation. The initial determination by the state assigned Livingston a requirement of 461 affordable housing units over the next ten years. The township’s professionals reviewed the statutory formula and calculation and determined that the required number of units should be lower. The township’s determination was challenged by the New Jersey Builders Association, a builders’ lobbying group that challenged virtually every municipality that sought to lower its obligation.

Under the terms of a settlement facilitated by the New Jersey Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program and memorialized by the New Jersey Superior Court in April, Livingston’s Fourth Round obligation was reduced from 461 units to a prospective need of 430 units.

As authorized by law, the township’s professional planners at Topology then completed a detailed review of all available, unconstrained, and developable land remaining in the township and recommended a “Vacant Land Adjustment” (VLA). The VLA, which is premised on the lack of available land for new development, reduced the township’s Realistic Development Potential (RDP) to only 13 units. The recommended VLA was adopted by the Planning Board and endorsed by the Township Council as part of the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan.

The new state law requires that every municipality satisfy its RDP—13 units in Livingston’s case—through approved zoning. After deducting the 13-unit RDP and applying 93 surplus Third Round credits (discussed below) from the 430-unit prospective need, the township’s remaining adjusted Fourth Round prospective need was 324 credits.

With no more unconstrained, developable vacant land available, any additional units could only come from the redevelopment of existing, improved properties. To address this, the new state law requires that every municipality provide a realistic redevelopment opportunity sufficient to satisfy 25% of the remaining adjusted prospective need. Thus, the township’s Fourth Round obligation consists of the 13-unit RDP and 25% of the 324-unit adjusted prospective need (81 units), resulting in a total obligation of 94 units. In addition to new housing units, Fourth Round obligations can be met in part through the renewal of affordable housing restrictions on existing developments and by earning “bonus” credits for qualifying projects.

The Township Has Already Satisfied Its Fourth Round Obligation

As noted above, the township’s sustained planning efforts and diligence over the past five years have resulted in Livingston already having met its Fourth Round affordable housing obligation.

Specifically, in satisfying its Third Round obligation, the township reached a Settlement Agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center and a number of intervening objecting developers. That agreement was approved by the New Jersey Superior Court. Importantly, the township negotiated an unprecedented provision that specifically allowed excess or “surplus” Third Round credits to be carried over and applied to the Fourth and future rounds. As a result, the township was able to carry over 124 credits to apply to its Fourth Round and future round obligations.

In addition, the township was able to identify projects yielding significant credits—while comparatively limiting community impact—that were not included in the Third Round settlement and were thus fully available to meet Fourth Round obligations. For example, one of the Fourth Round projects is the Brightview Assisted Living facility on the soon-to-be former site of the West Essex YMCA, which will produce zero school-aged children and create minimal traffic. Another important project was the negotiation to renew the 30-year affordability restrictions on 33 existing age-restricted units at Cedar Street Commons, which provide credits and bonus credits without any new construction. That negotiation also includes a modest expansion of the project with a net total of 100 new age-restricted units, which provides credits and bonus credits while producing zero school-aged children.

“Throughout this process, the Mayor and Council have been very sensitive to mitigating the impacts of development on the schools to the greatest extent possible,” said Township Manager Barry Lewis. “Our strategy has included utilizing age-restricted 55+ units to the highest number allowed, encouraging adaptive and special needs housing which meets a community demand while not producing any school-aged children, and limiting virtually all market-rate units to studios, one- and two-bedroom units.”

As detailed in Table 21 on page 33 of the Plan, the township has not only fully complied with and met its adjusted Fourth Round obligation of 94 credits, but has also banked an additional 78.5 credits from the Fourth Round projects—plus the remaining 31 Third Round surplus credits—that will be available to address any Fifth Round obligation imposed in 2035. View the full Plan at livingstonnj.org/AffordableHousing.

“The Township has positioned itself incredibly well by planning ahead, emphasizing the use of bonus credits, and maximizing the use of lower-impact housing types,” Township Manager Lewis continued. “Our success is the result of a well-thought-out strategy and a tremendous team effort among the Mayor and Council, the Township administration, our professional planners at Topology, and our Township Attorney, Jarrid Kantor.”

No Additional New Projects Needed Until 2035

As noted, the township has more than satisfied its adjusted Fourth Round obligation with projects that have already been approved and of which the public is already aware. Many of these projects have either been built or are under construction. Others have already received site plan approval by the Planning Board following public hearings. The few remaining projects have been approved by zoning ordinance or redevelopment plan, after public notice and hearings at Township Council and Planning Board meetings.

As a result, no additional new projects are required for the duration of the Fourth Round, which runs from 2025 through 2035. Moreover, the township will have significant banked credits to apply to any obligation assigned in the Fifth Round in 2035.

What Happens Next

As required by the new law, the township adopted and filed its Housing Element and Fair Share Plan by the June 30 statutory deadline. Under the law, interested parties have a period of 60 days to file any objection to the township’s Plan. Unfortunately, due to its track record and financial interest in encouraging runaway development, an objection from the New Jersey Builders Association is likely—as are possible objections from local property owners who were not included in the Plan.

Nevertheless, the township is prepared to defend the Plan against any challenges and is confident that it has fully met its obligations under the law—and even has additional surplus credits to further support its defense. Moreover, the township is currently assessing the capacity of its water and sewer infrastructure, which is one of the few authorized reasons to limit or delay additional development.

Upon resolution of any objections, the Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan will be eligible for compliance certification by the New Jersey Superior Court through the Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program. This certification will provide legal protection for the township against so-called “builder’s remedy” lawsuits through 2035 and give Livingston the certainty it needs to plan responsibly for the future.

WATCH THE VIDEOS

Watch footage from the June 26 planning board hearing below (article continues underneath):

Watch footage from the June 30 council meeting below (video is cued to the discussion about affordable housing):

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