Presented in cooperation with NJSBA Land Use Section and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association It’s been several months since the New Jersey Supreme Court issued its most recent decision relating to affordable housing. In the Matter of the Adoption of N.J.A.C 5:96 and 5:97 by the NJ Council on Affordable Housing, the decision chided COAH for failing to adopt constitutionally valid fair share house rules and tossed the COAH ball back to the courts. This allows low and middle income New Jersey residents or their representatives and under certain conditions, builders, to sue municipalities for failure to plan and provide their fair share of present and prospective regional housing needs for low and middle income individuals. The Court’s ruling sent municipalities and builders back to the drawing board. Municipalities have to reassess their obligations, both current and future, and seek declaratory judgments to protect them from builder remedy law suits, and builders to investigate possible opportunities and to examine the complex set of procedures that will need to be navigated in any future litigation. The decision also re-invigorated affordable housing advocates, providing them with potent arguments for litigation in the judicial forum, absent any initiatives by COAH to adopt constitutionally complaint rules. This year’s Land Use Institute provides in-depth discussions about current issues of interest to land use and local government attorneys, including what is on the immediate and future horizons for municipalities, builders and advocates as they struggle to interpret and comply with the New Jersey’s Supreme Court most recent affordable housing mandate. The Institute will feature some of the state’s leading affordable housing experts. You will hear the advice they are giving their clients about compliance and the opportunities and challenges the decision presents. Our program will also include timely discussions of recent cases and development of interest to all those who practice land use. Morning Session on Affordable Housing • Compliance with the timetable outlined by the court • Discussion of the recent decision - including On the Matter of the Adoption of the Monroe Township Housing Element and Fair Share Plans and Implementing Ordinance • What’s happening in towns that didn’t file for declaratory judgments • The Builder’s Remedy: What it looks like now and when it can and can’t be used • Current litigation • Calculating prior and future obligations - what planners are doing • What happens to Towns that complied with the Third Round Rules? • Participating and Non-participating COAH towns. • Regional entities, such as the Highlands and Pinelands Councils and how their Master Plans and regulations relate to affordable housing obligations • How courts are to treat local affordable housing ordinances • Compliance and immunity Afternoon Session • Sewer allocations and the Readington Realty Holdings Case • Repositioning of abandon or underperforming office and retail properties • What NOT to do - stopping airport development: A Discussion of Township of Readington v. Solberg Aviation decision
NJ CLE information: This program has been approved by the Board on Continuing Legal Education of the Supreme Court of New Jersey for 6.7 hours of total CLE credit.