Despite aggressive efforts by Mt. Laurel Town Council to thwart additional high-density housing, a court-ordered mandate by the state of New Jersey requires it to continue, with no end in sight.
“While the idea behind affordable housing has good intentions, the density of housing it allows, and the thousands of units assigned, do not allow towns to prepare for what comes with it - increased traffic congestion, the need for additional schools, and infrastructure”, stated Councilman Kurt Folcher. Because of the NJ State legislature and Governor’s failure to act on legislation, affordable housing mandates in NJ are administered by the courts. Requirements known as obligations are imposed on every municipality in the State in rounds and are intended to continue in perpetuity. Mayor Irwin Edelson stated that “the toughest part is that when assigning obligations, infrastructure capacity, schools, traffic, build out and environmental issues are not allowed to be considered.”
In order to entice builders to develop affordable housing, the courts allow them to develop market rate housing and commercial locations along with the affordable units which means that for each mandated affordable unit there are generally four additional market rate units.
Mount Laurel has followed the rules and has met its obligation in each round of assigned units. For the most recent third round, the court initially mandated the Township to allow for the production of more than 2,300 new affordable units. The Township Council aggressively fought the high number based on the fact that the Township’s design and character could not handle that much additional housing. The fight ended up in a negotiated court settlement that reduced the current obligation to a little over 1,000 new units which translates into approximately 5,000 newly developed units based on the ratio of affordable units to market rate units. These current obligations take the Township to 2025. If nothing changes, the next round will assign Mount Laurel even more required units.
The Township Council has been working to minimize the impact that these new developments will have on current residents and infrastructure. The Township can set parameters for the developments and influence the plans. For instance, an agreement was struck to have the new affordable units at Route 38 and Fostertown Road be designated for people aged 55 and older which helps to reduce school and traffic impacts. Council also works to ensure that the developers contribute to the improvements needed on roads and intersections. For instance, the developer of the Union Mill Road and Briggs Road project agreed, as part of the settlement, to contribute $3 million toward Union Mill Road improvements. Other new projects that are in the current round settlement are the Centerton Road site across from Costco and another multi-family development along Marne Highway.
The Township Council also plans to continue to aggressively pursue the purchase of open space. Residents voted heavily in favor of the open space program several times and, since its inception, the Township has permanently preserved more than 1,700 acres of land. Plots of land that were being pursued by developers, but were subsequently purchased by the Township include Trotter’s Crossing, land at the corner of Hainesport Mt. Laurel and Hartford Roads, and the St. John Neumann’s monastery property. The criteria for Township purchase is large parcels of developable land that could support a major housing development.
Another issue with the court mandates is that the State does not fund infrastructure improvements needed due to the increased housing density. Township Council has been advocating to our State elected officials for some time for the Route 295 and Route 38 interchange be modernized to increase safety and improve traffic flow. If done, this would significantly reduce traffic at Marter Avenue and Route 38. Per Councilwoman Linda Bobo, “We are proud of the diverse community that Mount Laurel has become and support efforts to ensure housing is affordable but believe that reform is desperately needed in the State’s approach to affordable housing and that the first step in making housing more affordable is reducing the nation’s highest property taxes.”
Mount Laurel is no stranger to affordable housing, having been involved since the mid-1970s. The New Jersey Supreme Court, in the Mount Laurel I (1975) and Mount Laurel II (1983) decisions, declared that municipal land use regulations that prevent affordable housing opportunities for lower income families are unconstitutional. The court rulings ordered all New Jersey municipalities to plan, zone for, and take affirmative actions to provide realistic opportunities for their “fair share” of the region’s need for affordable housing for low and moderate-income people. These court rulings also set the number of low and moderate income housing units that Mount Laurel had to have within the township for each “round”.
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