Pennington Council has approved a resolution laying out the borough’s compliance with its fourth-round affordable housing obligation.
Pennington and municipalities across the state were under a Jan. 31 deadline to pass a binding resolution that formally accepts the borough’s affordable housing obligations for the fourth-round presently and for the next 10 years.
Council members approved the resolution on Jan. 27 during a work session meeting.
The borough’s present fair share housing obligation or current need is four affordable units, and the future need has been determined to be 58 units over the next 10 years.
Additionally, in addition to the resolution, municipalities have until June 30 to adopt a housing element and fair share plan on satisfying the obligations.
These are the results of a new framework of the Fair Housing Act of New Jersey for municipalities to meet their affordable housing obligations by streamlining compliance and reducing litigation-related delays to construction of new affordable housing, according to the amended law, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed in March 2024.
“The Fair Housing Act of New Jersey was amended to set up a supposedly streamlined procedure whereby the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) would do the calculations for the present need and the future or prospective need during what we call round four, which goes from 2025 to 2035,” said Edwin Schmierer, attorney and director with the Princeton based law firm Mason, Griffin & Pierson, P.C., Pennington’s special counsel on affordable housing.
Schmierer added that Pennington’s present need of four affordable housing units is a very manageable number.
He noted that the borough’s future need over the next 10 years of 58 affordable units may be reduced even further.
“… in talking with Jim Kyle (borough planner), one of the reasons we revised the resolution kind of last minute was that you might be entitled to a vacant land adjustment or what they call a durational adjustment as Jim would work on the Fair Share plan that would have to be put together by June of this year,” Schmierer said.
Pennington’s Planning Board will review the plan put together by Kyle and approve the plan before the council receives it, Schmierer said.
“So, our recommendation that is mine as your special counsel for affordable housing and Jim Kyle as your planning consult is to participate in the new program and go through the process that has to be started on or before the end of the month,” he said.
“Then have you go into court for declaratory judgement action, which will not be anything like the third-round declaratory judgement action, which you all started and withdrew from because it was so … expensive.”
A four-page complaint would be filed, and they would ask the court to issue a judgement accepting Pennington’s acceptance of the fair share obligation. They would file the complaint with the declaratory judgement complaint by Jan. 31.
Once Pennington’s participation is approved, Kyle would begin working on the housing element and fair share plan.
Councilman Charles Marciante asked what happens if Pennington doesn’t meet the 58 units over the next 10 years.
“The obligation really is to not build 58 units,” Schmierer explained. “The obligation is to plan for realistically having an opportunity for 58 units to be built within the borough. So, I think we can zone for that and plan for that, but no one is making you put a shovel in the ground.”
Mayor Jim Davy added, “As Jim Kyle has always said to us, we are definitely making very reasonable efforts to accomplish something. So, I think that is a positive for Pennington Borough.”
Councilwoman Kati Angarone continued, “I think this is consistent with our commitment to affordable housing.”
