NJ Town Officials Risk Penalty from Affordable Housing Snafu

New Jersey is launching a renewed effort to overhaul affordable housing in the state, but officials in one town are under scrutiny for scrapping a project.

Officials in Millburn Township have ignored court orders to move forward on a 75-unit, all-affordable development at 9 Main Street in its downtown area, Gothamist reported. After the town pulled out of the project altogether last month, affordable housing advocates called for officials — Millburn Deputy Mayor Frank Saccomandi — to be personally sanctioned in the town.

The judge in the case said she could sanction the officials as soon as they rejected the project. She relented, however, and a hearing on the matter scheduled for this week was postponed.

In addition to fining the town officials individually, Millburn could also become subject to builder’s remedy, meaning the developer can bypass local regulations and zoning because the town is out of compliance with affordable housing requirements.

The project from RPM Development Group dates back to around three years ago, when town officials OK’d it after reaching a settlement with the nonprofit Fair Share Housing Center. The project called for units designated for multiple income levels, located near the town’s NJ Transit station.

The backlash from the community, which didn’t want to see dozens of affordable units clustered together, led to a change in leadership. Officials ran on the platform that they would dismantle the project. Saccomandi and fellow official Ben Stoller plan to ask for 90 days to determine a new plan for the 75 units in danger.

An attorney for the Fair Share Housing Center, which adjudicates all things affordable housing in the state, criticized the township for having only 38 affordable units. There are three other projects with affordable housing components in the works, though none with as many affordable units as the Main Street project.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy this week signed a bill designed to overhaul how affordable housing numbers are determined and developed throughout the state.

— Holden Walter-Warner