Wayne OKs Latest Affordable Housing Obligation Of 1,000 New Units

WAYNE, NJ — Wayne Township has committed to the state's new affordable housing requirement for Round Four, which set the township's obligation at 1,000 new units over the next decade.

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.

These latest calculations are for the fourth round, which runs from 2025-2035. Wayne Township's obligation was set at 1,000 new units, with 162 current residences that need renovated.

At the most recent town council meeting Mayor Chris Vergano said the state requirement is "unfair" to suburban communities like Wayne and that the township will have to get "creative" to make it work.

"There is a need (for affordable housing) but we can't just take a town like Wayne, and year after year after year penalize us," he said.

Vergano added that he did not join several other mayors in a lawsuit against the affordable housing mandate because he knew they faced a losing battle agains the state.

"There's no going back," he said. "The decision's already been made for all of us. They're ruining the suburban characters of towns."

Councilman Joseph Scuralli also said the affordable housing policy is a leftist scheme to "destroy suburban towns"

The state Department of Community Affairs released a set of affordable housing obligations in October, setting out how many low- or moderate-income units that represents each town's "fair share."

Friday was the deadline for towns to either approve their housing obligation numbers, or submit alternative calculations.