Council on Affordable Housing

Last updated

State of New Jersey
Council on Affordable Housing
Seal of New Jersey.svg
Agency overview
Formed1985
Jurisdiction New Jersey
Headquarters101 South Broad Street
Trenton, NJ 08625
Agency executives
Parent agency New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
Website www.state.nj.us/dca/affiliates/coah/

The Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) was, until its abolition in 2024 [1] , an agency of the Government of New Jersey within the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs that was responsible for ensuring that all 566 New Jersey municipalities provided their fair share of low and moderate income housing

Contents

The COAH was created by the New Jersey Legislature in response to the Fair Housing Act of 1985 and a series of New Jersey Supreme Court rulings that are known as the Mount Laurel doctrine.

History

The council was made up of 12 members appointed by the Governor of New Jersey and approved by the New Jersey Senate. COAH defined housing regions, estimated the needs for low/moderate income housing, allocated fair share numbers by municipality and reviewed plans to fulfill these obligations.[ citation needed ]

As of January 2006, 287 of New Jersey's 566 municipalities were part of the COAH process, and another 78 were under the court's jurisdiction. There were at least two COAH municipalities in each of the state's 21 counties. Bergen County had 42 of its 70 municipalities involved, the highest number in the state, with Morris County's 29 municipalities ranking second.[ citation needed ]

Municipalities originally were allowed to enter into a Regional Contribution Agreement (RCA), which allows them to pay a fee to another municipality that agrees to provide affordable housing units to fulfill up to half of the sending municipality's COAH obligations. The sending municipality must pay a negotiated fee for each unit transferred.[ citation needed ] For example, Marlboro Township signed an agreement in June 2008 that will have Trenton build or rehabilitate 332 housing units (out of Marlboro's 1,600-unit obligation), with Marlboro paying $25,000 per unit, a total of $8.3 million to Trenton for taking on the responsibility for these units. [2]

RCAs were suppressed by the state's housing laws on July 17, 2008. [3]

COAH's defunct status as of 2017

On March 10, 2015, the New Jersey Supreme Court divested COAH of jurisdiction of municipal housing plans. Towns must now petition the lower court for approval of their housing plans. Builders, developers and other interested parties may intervene in such proceedings, which are known as declaratory judgment actions. [4] [5]

On February 9, 2010, Governor Chris Christie had suspended COAH and appointed a committee in preparation to dismantle it. [6] [7] The Supreme Court ruled that it was not within his power "“to abolish independent agencies that were created by legislative action”. It also ordered COAH to come up with new regulations regarding the development of affordable housing. [8] COAH passed new guidelines on May 1, 2014, [9] which increase the number of units developers are permitted to build in exchange for one affordable housing unit from four to nine. [10] When asked, the agency refused to provide the contract for the Rutgers University professor who prepared the plan and claimed that the documents used to calculate the new guidelines had been lost, leading an affordable housing group to offer a $1,000 reward. [11] In July 2014, a superior judge ruled that the contract must be released and search conducting for the missing documents. [12]

In October 2014 the COAH Board failed to meet the deadline by the Supreme Court for establishing new Third Round guidelines, when the board voted, 3–3, to adopt the proposal. [13] In the absence of action by the state, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in March 2015, that determination of affordable housing obligations would be administered by the court. [14] [15] [16] [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trenton, New Jersey</span> Capital city of New Jersey, United States

Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 until December 24, 1784. Trenton and Princeton are the two principal cities of the Trenton–Princeton metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses those cities and all of Mercer County for statistical purposes and constitutes part of the New York combined statistical area by the U.S. Census Bureau. However, Trenton directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area to its west, and the city was part of the Philadelphia combined statistical area from 1990 until 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercer County, New Jersey</span> County in New Jersey, United States

Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, prompting its nickname The Capital County. Mercer County alone constitutes the Trenton–Princeton metropolitan statistical area and is considered part of the New York combined statistical area by the U.S. Census Bureau, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission's Philadelphia Designated Media Market Area. The county is part of the Central Jersey region of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlboro Township, New Jersey</span> Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, US

Marlboro Township is a township in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is located within the Raritan Valley region and is a part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 41,502, an increase of 1,311 (+3.3%) from the 2010 census count of 40,191, which in turn reflected an increase of 5,449 (+16.3%) from the 33,423 counted in the 2000 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supreme Court of New Jersey</span> Highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey

The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging the validity of state laws under the state constitution. It has the sole authority to prescribe and amend court rules and regulate the practice of law, and it is the arbiter and overseer of the decennial legislative redistricting. One of its former members, William J. Brennan Jr., became an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in New Jersey since October 21, 2013, the effective date of a trial court ruling invalidating the state's restriction of marriage to persons of different sexes. In September 2013, Mary C. Jacobson, Assignment Judge of the Mercer Vicinage of the Superior Court, ruled that as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor, the Constitution of New Jersey requires the state to recognize same-sex marriages. The Windsor decision held that the federal government was required to provide the same benefits to same-sex couples who were married under state law as to other married couples. Therefore, the state court reasoned in Garden State Equality v. Dow that, because same-sex couples in New Jersey were limited to civil unions, which are not recognized as marriages under federal law, the state must permit civil marriage for same-sex couples. This ruling, in turn, relied on the 2006 decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court in Lewis v. Harris that the state was constitutionally required to afford the rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. The Supreme Court had ordered the New Jersey Legislature to correct the constitutional violation, by permitting either same-sex marriage or civil unions with all the rights and benefits of marriage, within 180 days. In response, the Legislature passed a bill to legalize civil unions on December 21, 2006, which became effective on February 19, 2007.

William E. Baroni Jr. is an American Republican Party politician and law professor. He represented the 14th legislative district in the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly. In 2010, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie named Baroni to serve as the Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reed Gusciora</span> American politician (born 1960)

Walter Reed Gusciora is an American Democratic Party politician who has served as the 48th mayor of Trenton, New Jersey since 2018. He previously served from 1996 to 2018 in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 15th Legislative District.

Abbott districts are school districts in New Jersey that are provided remedies to ensure that their students receive public education in accordance with the state constitution. They were created in 1985 as a result of the first ruling of Abbott v. Burke, a case filed by the Education Law Center. The ruling asserted that public primary and secondary education in poor communities throughout the state was unconstitutionally substandard. The Abbott II ruling in 1990 had the most far-reaching effects, ordering the state to fund the (then) 28 Abbott districts at the average level of the state's wealthiest districts. The Abbott District system was replaced in 2007 by the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.

Stuart Jeff Rabner is the chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. He served as New Jersey Attorney General, chief counsel to Governor Jon Corzine, and as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.

The Mount Laurel doctrine is a significant judicial doctrine of the New Jersey State Constitution. The doctrine requires that municipalities use their zoning powers in an affirmative manner to provide a realistic opportunity for the production of housing affordable to low- and moderate-income households.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Christie</span> American politician and lawyer (born 1962)

Christopher James Christie is an American politician and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he was the United States Attorney for New Jersey from 2002 to 2008 and a Morris County commissioner from 1995 to 1997. He was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raj Mukherji</span> New Jersey Senator

Raj Mukherji is a Senator representing New Jersey's 32nd District and an American businessman and lawyer. He previously served five terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, during which tenure he served as Majority Whip and Deputy Speaker. He is a former healthcare and information technology CEO, former Deputy Mayor of Jersey City, former local prosecutor, and law professor. Mukherji was first elected to the General Assembly in 2013 and reelected in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021, and first elected to the Senate in 2023. He is a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant who enlisted two weeks following the September 11th terrorist attacks. Mukherji serves as Vice Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee and as a member of the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens and Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committees. In the Assembly, he served as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and Telecommunications and Utilities Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992</span> U.S. law mostly banning sports gambling

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, also known as PASPA or the Bradley Act, was a law, judicially-overturned in 2018, that was meant to define the legal status of sports betting throughout the United States. This act effectively outlawed sports betting nationwide, excluding a few states.

Dawn Marie Addiego is an American politician who represented the New Jersey's 8th legislative district in the New Jersey Senate from 2010 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the General Assembly from January 8, 2008 to November 22, 2010 as a Republican. On November 15, 2010, after Phil Haines was confirmed to serve on the New Jersey Superior Court for Burlington County, that county's Republican committee nominated and appointed Addiego to fill Haines' vacant seat for the remainder of his unexpired term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilda Diaz</span> American politician (born 1964)

Wilda Diaz is an American former politician and Mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. She was elected in May 2008, defeating incumbent Joseph Vas by a 58% to 42% margin. She was Perth Amboy's first female mayor and New Jersey's first Latina mayor. She served for 12 years from 2008 until 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 New Jersey elections</span>

A general election was held in the U.S. state of New Jersey on November 3, 2009. Primary elections were held on June 2. Most state positions were up in this election cycle, which includes all 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly, as well as Governor and Lieutenant Governor. In addition to the State Legislative elections, numerous county offices and freeholders in addition to municipal offices were up for election. There was one statewide ballot question. Some counties and municipalities may have had local ballot questions as well. Non-partisan local elections, some school board elections, and some fire district elections also happened throughout the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rich Constable</span> American lawyer

Richard E. Constable III is an American lawyer who was the 16th Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, serving from 2012 to 2015. A former Assistant US Attorney, he was also the Deputy Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Rich Constable currently serves as MSG Entertainment’s chief strategist overseeing legislative, community, and social impact initiatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Governorship of Chris Christie</span>

Chris Christie took office as the 55th Governor of New Jersey on January 19, 2010, began his second term on January 21, 2014, and left office on January 16, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Lee lane closure scandal</span> 2013–14 New Jersey political scandal

The Fort Lee lane closure scandal, better known as Bridgegate, was a political scandal in the U.S. state of New Jersey in 2013 and 2014. It involved a staff member and political appointees of then-governor Chris Christie colluding to create traffic jams in Fort Lee, New Jersey by closing lanes at the main toll plaza for the upper level of the George Washington Bridge.

Ethel Robinson Lawrence was a civil rights activist who was known as the "Rosa Parks of affordable housing". Lawrence was the lead plaintiff in the Mount Laurel, New Jersey litigation for affordable housing, which led to the New Jersey Fair Housing Act, the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) and the Mount Laurel doctrine. In her final years, Lawrence worked closely with attorney Peter O'Connor to start the non-profit organization Fair Share Housing Development Inc., which built over 200 units for moderate- to low-income tenants in Mount Laurel.

References

  1. ↑ "N.J. has a new affordable housing law, but it will take years for it to make a difference". WHYY.org. March 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Marlboro will pay Trenton to take affordable housing" Archived October 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine , News Transcript, June 18, 2008. Accessed June 25, 2008.
  3. ↑ "Corzine Signs Landmark Affordable Housing Reforms", Cape May County Herald, July 18, 2008. Accessed July 26, 2008
  4. ↑ "Griffin Alexander, P.C." www.LawGAPC.com. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  5. ↑ In 2015, the Supreme Court rendered a decision that considered COAH defunct, and called for a judicial forum as “a substitute for [COAH’s] substantive certification process.” In re N.J.A.C. 5:96 & 5:97, 221 N.J. 1, 7, 110 A.3d 31, 35 (2015).
  6. ↑ "N.J. Gov. Chris Christie creates task force to review affordable housing". NJ.com. February 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  7. ↑ Christie, Chris (February 9, 2010). "EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 12" (PDF).
  8. ↑ Kass, Alida (January 31, 2014). "New Jersey Supreme Court Strikes Down Reorganization of the Council on Affordable Housing" . Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  9. ↑ O'Dea, Colleen (May 1, 2014). "COAH Votes to Propose New Rules Virtually Sight Unseen". NJ Spotlight. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  10. ↑ Johnson, Brent (April 30, 2014). "NJ releases new affordable housing rules, but advocates are not happy". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Affordable housing group offers $1,000 reward for document 'lost' by Christie administration". Newark Star-Ledger. July 25, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  12. ↑ Johnson, Brent (July 2, 2014). "Critics blast Christie administration's new NJ affordable housing plan". Newark Star-Ledger. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  13. ↑ "N.J. affordable housing council fails to adopt Christie's new rules despite Supreme Court deadline". The Star-Ledger. October 25, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  14. ↑ http://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-supreme-court-judges-taking-over-enforcement-of-affordable-housing-1.1285819 [ bare URL ]
  15. ↑ "COAH Is History: State's Top Court Declares Troubled Agency 'Moribund' - NJ Spotlight". www.NJSpotlight.com. March 11, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  16. ↑ "N.J. Supreme Court rebukes Christie administration, puts courts in charge of affordable housing". NJ.com. March 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  17. ↑ The Editorial Board (March 20, 2015). "Opinion - Chris Christie's Fair Housing Problem". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.