Politics & Government
High Court Ruling Keeps COAH On Life Support
New Jersey's Supreme Court denies Christie's stay on the appellate court's decision that he did not have authority to abolish COAH
The New Jersey Supreme Court denied a Christie Administration request to suspend the appellate court's ruling that the governor did not have the authority to dismantle COAH (Council on Affordable Housing) because it is an agency that was created by the legislative branch.
COAH was established in 1985 by the N.J. Legislature as part of the Fair Housing Act, an act created in response to a series of N.J. Supreme Court decisions in the Mount Laurel cases. COAH was authorized to assess the statewide need for affordable housing, allocate that need on a municipal "fair share" basis, and review and approve municipal housing plans aimed at implementing the local fair share obligation.
New Milford's obligation to provide affordable housing is the crux of Hekemian's argument in seeking of the United Water property. The town's 2004 master plan puts New Milford's entire affordable housing obligation on the United Water property.
Find out what's happening in New Milfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
COAH creates a formula for how many units each town must build--a formula that has been the subject of multiple lawsuits.
According to Dr. David Kinsey, Hekemian's planning expert, every 9412 sq. ft. of mercantile use should trigger requirements for one low income unit in a housing plan. Every 5714 sq. ft. of business use should trigger one low income housing unit. Based on this formula, it is his recommendation that there be 40 set-aside low and moderate income housing units, which is about 18 percent of the 221 units
Find out what's happening in New Milfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Attorneys for the Hekemian said that development of the residential portion of the proposed development has an "inherently beneficial use" with regard to the town's obligation to provide low-income housing. "Inherently Beneficial Use" is defined under municipal land use law as a use which is considered of value to the community because it fundamentally serves the public good and promotes the general welfare, such as a school or hospital.
Despite Christie's loss, there are other lawsuits winding their way through the courts challenging COAH's formula.
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