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COAH / Fair Share Housing Obligations
The purpose of this web page is to provide residents of the Township and interested parties with information and access to documents concerning the Township’s proposed settlement agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center and Superior Court in compliance with the New Jersey’s Supreme Court’s decision to make affordable housing available to eligible citizens of New Jersey. The following serves as background information to help you better understand the Court’s decision.
If you are looking for information on current affordable housing options in Hanover Township please visit the Affordable Housing Opportunities page.
In 1975, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued its landmark decision known as South Burlington County NAACP v. Township of Mount Laurel. This decision virtually reshaped New Jersey’s housing market and the obligation of many municipalities, like Hanover Township, to meet its fair share obligation.
Historic Overview of the Courts and COAH
As stated above, the 1975 New Jersey Supreme Court rendered its decision in South Burlington County NAACP v. Township of Mount. Laurel, 67 N.J. 151 (1975)(“Mount Laurel I”), in which it held that every developing municipality in the state had an affirmative constitutional obligation to provide for its fair share of affordable housing. After that, there was little movement by municipalities to produce affordable housing. Consequently, the Supreme Court issued a second decision known as South Burlington County NAACP v. Mount Laurel Township., 92 N.J. 158 (1983)(“Mount Laurel II”), in which it created the builder’s remedy lawsuit in an effort to get municipalities to comply with their constitutional affordable housing obligations. The Supreme Court also refined the constitutional obligation to focus primarily on those municipalities with portions of their boundaries within the growth area as shown on the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan, and called for the state legislature to enact legislation that would save municipalities from the burden of having the courts determine their affordable housing needs. As a result, the state legislature adopted the Fair Housing Act in 1985. This action resulted in the creation of the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), the State agency responsible for monitoring the manner in which the State’s municipalities addressed their low and moderate-income housing needs.
COAH adopted regulations establishing housing need numbers for the First Round obligation covering the years 1987 to 1993 and established Second Round housing-need numbers that cumulatively covered the years 1987 through 1999. Under both the First and Second housing rounds, COAH utilized what is commonly referred to as the “fair share” methodology.
COAH utilized a different methodology, called “growth share,” to prepare Third Round housing need numbers. COAH first adopted Third Round substantive and procedural rules in 2004. These regulations were challenged, and in January of 2007, the Appellate Division invalidated various aspects of the regulations and remanded considerable portions of the rules to COAH with the directive to adopt revised rules.
In May 2008, COAH proposed revised Third Round regulations, which became effective on June 2, 2008. On the same day, COAH proposed amendments to the rules it just adopted and said amendments went into effect in October 2008.
The rules and regulations adopted in 2008 were also challenged. And, in October 2010, the Appellate Division concluded that COAH’s revised 2008 regulations suffered from many of the same deficiencies as the first iteration of COAH’s Third Round rules. The Appellate Division, therefore, invalidated substantial portions of the 2008 Third Round regulations, including all regulations that dealt with the growth-share methodology. (Refer to: Adoption of N.J.A.C. 5:96 & 5:97, 416 N.J. Super. 462 (App. Div. 2010). The Supreme Court affirmed this decision in September 2013, and on March 14, 2014, issued an order which required COAH to adopt new Round 3 regulations by October 22, 2014.
Unfortunately, COAH failed to adopt its newly revised Third Round regulations, deadlocking with a 3-3 vote in October of 2014. A third-party organization, known as the Fair Share Housing Center (“FSHC”), which was a party in both the 2010 and 2013 cases, responded by filing a motion in aid of litigants' rights with the New Jersey Supreme Court. The Supreme Court heard the motion in January 2015. On March 10, 2015, it issued its decision “In the Matter of the Adoption of N.J.A.C. 5:96 and 5:97 by the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 221 N.J. 1 (2015)(“Mount Laurel IV”).” In this decision, the Supreme Court held that COAH was effectively dysfunctional, and consequently, returned jurisdiction of affordable housing issues back to the trial courts, where it had been prior to the creation of COAH in 1986. The Mount Laurel IV decision also created a process for municipalities, like Hanover, that have endeavored to address their fair share obligations in the past, but could not obtain Third Round substantive certification of their Housing Element and Fair Share Plan (HE&FSP) because of COAH’s inaction. Instead, Hanover had to work toward getting its plan approved via a Third Round Judgment of Compliance and Repose. Municipalities were entitled to file declaratory judgment actions seeking to declare their affordable housing plans constitutionally compliant, and were also entitled to apply for temporary immunity from all Mount Laurel lawsuits, including builder’s remedy lawsuits, while they prepared a new or revised affordable housing plan.
In response to the Mount Laurel IV decision, the Township of Hanover filed a Declaratory Judgment Complaint, along with a simultaneous motion for temporary immunity on July 2, 2015. This was docketed in Superior Court in Morristown as MRS-L-1635-15. The Court granted temporary immunity to the Township on August 14, 2015, which has been subsequently extended via the entry of a series of court orders through the present date.
The Township's Historic Response to Its Affordable Housing Obligations
Hanover has prepared a number of Housing Elements and Fair Share Plans over the years to address its affordable housing obligations. The Township was initially granted a judgment of compliance and repose to address an obligation of 250 units (new construction) on September 24, 1984, by the Honorable Stephen Skillman, J.S.C.
The 1984 Judgment of Compliance and Repose included the zoning of five sites to address the Township’s 250-unit First Round obligation. An RM Residential Multifamily district encompassing these sites was adopted (Ordinance 19-84) to implement this Judgment, permitting multifamily development, consisting of townhouse, garden apartment, and other housing types, with a 22 percent set-aside for low and moderate-income units.
In 1994, COAH issued new housing need numbers for the combined First and Second Round period between 1987 and 1999. Hanover was assigned a pre-credited need of 366 units, inclusive of a 355-unit new construction obligation and an 11-unit rehabilitation share. This number was ultimately reduced to 83 units after credits and reductions for zoning in place were considered. The calculated need of 83 units consisted of 72 new construction units and 11 rehabilitation units. The Township’s Second Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan (adopted July 22, 1997) addressed a twelve-year cumulative obligation for the years 1987-1999. No objections were received and COAH granted substantive certification on August 4, 1999.
The prior round plan components are summarized in the accompanying table. As shown, each of these plan components has been fully implemented.
Table 1: CERTIFIED PRIOR ROUND PLAN COMPONENTS
Hanover Township, New Jersey
| Plan Component | # of Affordable Units | Status |
|---|---|---|
Regional Contribution Agreement City of Orange Township | 9 | Complete |
Inclusionary Housing Hanover Hills Sunrise at Hanover Eden Mill Village Oak Ridge at Hanover Sterling Parc (formerly Cedar Glen) - Rental Units Jewish MetroWest I Rentals | 39 32 66 50 64 (56 Age-Restricted and 8 Family) 36 Age Restricted | Complete Complete Complete Complete Complete Complete |
Special Needs/Supportive Housing 21 Longview Drive ARC Group Home Horse Hill Road I Group Home Horse Hill Road II Group Home Mountain Avenue Group Home | 4 Bedrooms 6 Bedrooms 6 Bedrooms 5 Bedrooms | Complete Complete Complete Complete |
Rental Bonus Credits Sterling Parc Jewish MetroWest I Group Homes | 26 (18 Age Restricted and 8 Family) 3 15 | Complete Complete Complete |
TOTAL | 361 | COMPLETE |