Help ease N.J. housing crisis and we’ll give you more money for your town, Dems tell mayors

Towns that embrace affordable housing would be given higher priority for state grants under legislation that cleared the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee this week.

The bill, S2506, would have the Department of Community Affairs and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority disperse those grants.

“Historically, many municipalities in our state have been reluctant to take steps necessary to achieve their affordable housing obligations,” said state Sen. Renee Burgess, D-Essex. “By offering priority consideration for grants and assistance, we can encourage municipalities to more actively work towards meeting those obligations, which can lead to increased efforts to develop and maintain affordable housing within their community.”

The chair of the committee, Sen. Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, was one of the sponsors of a recently passed affordable housing bill that would increase the number of towns that have to comply with affordable housing mandates.

The bill received Democratic support and resistance from Republicans charged it would unfairly target municipalities that didn’t have the room or the infrastructure to build the housing.

The grants would come through the Main Street New Jersey program, the Neighborhood Preservation Program and others that involve a competitive application process.

The Main Street New Jersey program is a revitalization program that focuses on downtown and business districts. Applications are accepted every two years, according to the DCA website. The program also includes façade improvements and building rehabilitation.

Towns can qualify by having at least one identifiable main street or downtown, historic buildings, walkable or pedestrian oriented districts, mixed use properties, and a willingness to hire an executive director to oversee the effort for towns whose population exceeds 20,000 people.

The Neighborhood Preservation Program, which was established via legislation in the 1970s, originally focused on residential areas. The program was changed in 2019 to include commercial corridors and downtowns.

The program covers areas that fully and partially fall in moderate to low-income census tracts.

Funds can be used for demolitions, site clearance, property acquisition and housing rehabilitation.

The announcement also comes as one of the state’s wealthiest municipalities, Millburn, is engaged in high profile litigation over what litigants have described as a refusal to comply with the current mandate. A judge recently stripped the town of its ability to determine where and how affordable housing got built, citing exclusionary tactics.

Burgess’ bill cleared the committee with a 3-2 vote. It needs to be passed by the full Senate and Assembly and signed by Gov. Phil Murphy to become law.