Jones Lang LaSalle
Meadows towns pay the price of growth
State requires 2,500 units of affordable housing
Sunday, June 18, 2006
BY STEVE CHAMBERS
Star-Ledger Staff
In the past two years, towns in the Meadowlands have embraced redevelopment proposals to transform old industrial sites and landfills into thousands of housing units and millions of square feet of commercial space.
Now, the bill's coming due.
State housing rules enacted in 2004 require all residential and commercial projects to include a share of housing for poor and moderate-income families. The massive size of the projects -- 7,300 residential units, 27.5 million square feet of commercial, office and warehouse space and 2,750 hotel rooms -- could force towns to build 2,500 affordable units or more.
As the scale of development -- and the housing obligations they trigger -- became better understood, there have been sharp repercussions.
Earlier this month, the mayor of North Arlington lost his seat after a primary fight that hinged on the affordable housing issue. A year ago, the mayor of Lyndhurst lost his seat in a race that also focused on the scope of development and the accompanying affordable housing.
Last month, Carlstadt and East Rutherford were stripped of all zoning powers by a judge who said he was fed up with their stonewalling on affordable housing.
And environmentalists, who have maintained a cautious truce with housing advocates, have begun to complain that large-scale projects and the accompanying affordable housing could harm the fragile river ecosystem of a region built on marshes and tidal wetlands.
"It took us years to get the (state) to preserve wetlands and set aside natural resource areas for conservation," said Hackensack Riverkeeper Bill Sheehan. "Now, we've got judges telling towns they have to allow 20-story buildings on the banks of the river."
UNMET OBLIGATIONS
Towns across New Jersey have long been chastised by housing advocates and judges for willingly accepting ratables while using zoning laws to exclude the poor.
But in the Meadowlands of northern New Jersey, things have been complicated by the existence of a powerful regional entity. Created the 1968, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission was designed to spur economic development and prevent the Hackensack River and surrounding marshes from becoming an industrial wasteland.
The commission has land-use jurisdiction over parts of 14 towns in Bergen and Hudson counties. As it has pressed for large-scale redevelopment in recent years, the state agency has been accused by housing advocates of helping its partner towns shirk their housing obligations.
In a 2004 master plan, the commission sharply curtailed development on wetlands. But it designated 10 redevelopment areas, ushering in developments like Encap, a multiphase project to build golf courses, 4,205 residential units and a convention center on top of former landfills.
Housing advocates assailed the plan for scarcely mentioning the poor. The nonprofit Fair Share Housing Center sued, followed by the New Jersey Builders Association, which argued that another large-scale Meadowlands project -- known as Xanadu -- also ignored housing obligations.
Under legal pressure and faced with the new housing rules, the commission has been pressing towns to allow affordable housing to be part of the new projects. In the past year, Secaucus, Lyndhurst and Rutherford have accepted 735 affordable units in large-scale projects getting under way in their towns.
Other towns are livid about what they deem to be unfair pressure by state officials.
"I just completed a door-to-door campaign for our primary election, and I didn't find a single constituent who wants to support low-income housing with their tax dollars," said East Rutherford Councilman Jeff Lahullier.
SEEKING BALANCE
Susan Bass Levin, who as commissioner of the state Department of Community Affairs chairs both the Meadowlands Commission and the Council on Affordable Housing, said the commission is striking a proper balance between protecting the environment and easing the state's housing crunch.
She said the new housing rules allow towns to site developments sensibly, rather than leaving the decisions to judges and developers. The new rules allow towns to tax construction and use the money to build one affordable unit for every eight market-rate residential units or 25 jobs created by commercial development.
East Rutherford Mayor Jim Cassella said Xanadu alone may force his town to accept between 850 and 1,000 units of affordable housing. He said the obligation was extreme, particularly since the town had no say in the development approved by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
Since its landmark 1975 Mount Laurel decision, the state Supreme Court has barred towns from closing their doors to affordable housing.
But the court has been silent on the obligations of regional entities run by the state -- such as the Meadowlands Commission and similar boards overseeing development in the northern Highlands and Pinelands.
John Payne, a Rutgers Law School professor, believes the state cannot legally ignore the obligations of towns in its land-use jurisdiction.
"If the state hasn't delegated the obligation to the towns, then it's clear to me the state has the obligation," Payne said. "If not, it's a gigantic loophole."
NO STONEWALLING
Earlier this month, state Superior Court Judge Jonathan Harris blasted East Rutherford and Carlstadt for stonewalling on affordable housing. He stripped the towns of land-use powers and said a landowner could build two high-rise towers beside the Hackensack, which would include 140 units of affordable housing.
While courts have never ordered towns to build housing, they have been generous in allowing developers to build more units than zoning permitted if they set aside some for the poor.
Cassella and others believe that strategy has proved disastrous, visiting large-scale development on places that aren't equipped to deal with it.
"The lunacy of the Mount Laurel decision is there isn't a builder in the world using it because he cares so much about the poor," Cassella said. "It's about making money."
Other local officials say the matter is more complex.
In Rutherford, officials have supported the inclusion of 94 affordable units in a planned 800-unit development.
"Many times affordable housing is misunderstood," said Rutherford Mayor Bernadette McPherson. "If you look at the income levels of those people who qualify, these are our neighbors, our parents, our sisters and brothers in our community."
Steve Chambers covers land-use issues. He may be reached at schambers@starledger.com or (973) 392-1674.
© 2006 The Star Ledger
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
Meadows towns pay the price of growth
State requires 2,500 units of affordable housing
Sunday, June 18, 2006
BY STEVE CHAMBERS
Star-Ledger Staff
In the past two years, towns in the Meadowlands have embraced redevelopment proposals to transform old industrial sites and landfills into thousands of housing units and millions of square feet of commercial space.
Now, the bill's coming due.
State housing rules enacted in 2004 require all residential and commercial projects to include a share of housing for poor and moderate-income families. The massive size of the projects -- 7,300 residential units, 27.5 million square feet of commercial, office and warehouse space and 2,750 hotel rooms -- could force towns to build 2,500 affordable units or more.
As the scale of development -- and the housing obligations they trigger -- became better understood, there have been sharp repercussions.
Earlier this month, the mayor of North Arlington lost his seat after a primary fight that hinged on the affordable housing issue. A year ago, the mayor of Lyndhurst lost his seat in a race that also focused on the scope of development and the accompanying affordable housing.
Last month, Carlstadt and East Rutherford were stripped of all zoning powers by a judge who said he was fed up with their stonewalling on affordable housing.
And environmentalists, who have maintained a cautious truce with housing advocates, have begun to complain that large-scale projects and the accompanying affordable housing could harm the fragile river ecosystem of a region built on marshes and tidal wetlands.
"It took us years to get the (state) to preserve wetlands and set aside natural resource areas for conservation," said Hackensack Riverkeeper Bill Sheehan. "Now, we've got judges telling towns they have to allow 20-story buildings on the banks of the river."
UNMET OBLIGATIONS
Towns across New Jersey have long been chastised by housing advocates and judges for willingly accepting ratables while using zoning laws to exclude the poor.
But in the Meadowlands of northern New Jersey, things have been complicated by the existence of a powerful regional entity. Created the 1968, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission was designed to spur economic development and prevent the Hackensack River and surrounding marshes from becoming an industrial wasteland.
The commission has land-use jurisdiction over parts of 14 towns in Bergen and Hudson counties. As it has pressed for large-scale redevelopment in recent years, the state agency has been accused by housing advocates of helping its partner towns shirk their housing obligations.
In a 2004 master plan, the commission sharply curtailed development on wetlands. But it designated 10 redevelopment areas, ushering in developments like Encap, a multiphase project to build golf courses, 4,205 residential units and a convention center on top of former landfills.
Housing advocates assailed the plan for scarcely mentioning the poor. The nonprofit Fair Share Housing Center sued, followed by the New Jersey Builders Association, which argued that another large-scale Meadowlands project -- known as Xanadu -- also ignored housing obligations.
Under legal pressure and faced with the new housing rules, the commission has been pressing towns to allow affordable housing to be part of the new projects. In the past year, Secaucus, Lyndhurst and Rutherford have accepted 735 affordable units in large-scale projects getting under way in their towns.
Other towns are livid about what they deem to be unfair pressure by state officials.
"I just completed a door-to-door campaign for our primary election, and I didn't find a single constituent who wants to support low-income housing with their tax dollars," said East Rutherford Councilman Jeff Lahullier.
SEEKING BALANCE
Susan Bass Levin, who as commissioner of the state Department of Community Affairs chairs both the Meadowlands Commission and the Council on Affordable Housing, said the commission is striking a proper balance between protecting the environment and easing the state's housing crunch.
She said the new housing rules allow towns to site developments sensibly, rather than leaving the decisions to judges and developers. The new rules allow towns to tax construction and use the money to build one affordable unit for every eight market-rate residential units or 25 jobs created by commercial development.
East Rutherford Mayor Jim Cassella said Xanadu alone may force his town to accept between 850 and 1,000 units of affordable housing. He said the obligation was extreme, particularly since the town had no say in the development approved by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
Since its landmark 1975 Mount Laurel decision, the state Supreme Court has barred towns from closing their doors to affordable housing.
But the court has been silent on the obligations of regional entities run by the state -- such as the Meadowlands Commission and similar boards overseeing development in the northern Highlands and Pinelands.
John Payne, a Rutgers Law School professor, believes the state cannot legally ignore the obligations of towns in its land-use jurisdiction.
"If the state hasn't delegated the obligation to the towns, then it's clear to me the state has the obligation," Payne said. "If not, it's a gigantic loophole."
NO STONEWALLING
Earlier this month, state Superior Court Judge Jonathan Harris blasted East Rutherford and Carlstadt for stonewalling on affordable housing. He stripped the towns of land-use powers and said a landowner could build two high-rise towers beside the Hackensack, which would include 140 units of affordable housing.
While courts have never ordered towns to build housing, they have been generous in allowing developers to build more units than zoning permitted if they set aside some for the poor.
Cassella and others believe that strategy has proved disastrous, visiting large-scale development on places that aren't equipped to deal with it.
"The lunacy of the Mount Laurel decision is there isn't a builder in the world using it because he cares so much about the poor," Cassella said. "It's about making money."
Other local officials say the matter is more complex.
In Rutherford, officials have supported the inclusion of 94 affordable units in a planned 800-unit development.
"Many times affordable housing is misunderstood," said Rutherford Mayor Bernadette McPherson. "If you look at the income levels of those people who qualify, these are our neighbors, our parents, our sisters and brothers in our community."
Steve Chambers covers land-use issues. He may be reached at schambers@starledger.com or (973) 392-1674.
© 2006 The Star Ledger
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
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