Connors and Haines Welcome Chance to Question Doria, Vandenberg on ‘Affordable’ Housing Rules

Senators Phil Haines and Chris Connors, Republican members of the Senate Community & Urban Affairs Committee, said they are pleased that Joseph Doria Jr., Commissioner of Community Affairs, and Lucy Vandenberg, Executive Director of the Council on Affordable Housing, are scheduled to come before the committee on Monday. The two senators hope to get answers to many questions, including:

· Why is the Council implementing rules and housing quotas based on outdated and sloppy data? COAH’s housing construction quotas are based on outdated estimates that New Jersey will have employment gains of 58,943 positions before 2018. New Jersey lost 15,200 jobs in December alone. Just as important, estimates of the available land for building rely on a study that argues construction is possible in backyards of existing homes, on the median strips of busy highways, and in the protective open space airports have set aside along their runways. The study also ignored restrictions placed on the land for environmental reasons.

· How does COAH intend to reconcile mandates for housing construction that conflict with Corzine administration recommendations to combat global warming put forth on Dec. 15? The COAH rules promote massive new construction in undeveloped areas, while the global warming report says the state should require that 90 percent of development in New Jersey occur in areas already served by public infrastructure and that 99 percent of development be redevelopment of sites already in use. The rules also conflict with Open Space efforts, statewide land use plans, and laws designed to protect the Highlands and the Pinelands

· Why are towns being required to find funding when the state is imposing these “affordable” housing rules? Estimates of the portion of the COAH mandates that communities will have to bear range from $4.8 billion to $20 billion. Many towns submitted plans in December that call for using property taxes to pay for the costs of their “affordable” housing quotas. Others have rightly challenged the rules, arguing they are unfunded mandates. Given that it is now indisputable that some towns plan to spend property taxes to meet the quotas, why aren’t you calling for the state to provide sufficient financing to ensure that property taxpayers aren’t burdened with the costs?

“I expect that our questioning of Commissioner Doria will demonstrate once again why we can’t afford to go ahead with these COAH rules during a time of economic turmoil,” Senator Connors said. “It’s vital to delay the implementation of these job-killing regulations and then go back to the drawing board to create a plan for spurring construction of affordable housing that is based on the priorities of the majority of New Jerseyans, not just a few special interests.”

“No amount of discussion is going to change the fact that these rules are unworkable and unaffordable,” said Senator Haines. “We hope to hear Commissioner Doria and Executive Director Vandeberg say that efforts are well under way to fix rules that are dragging down the state’s economy and threatening to send property taxes soaring.”