Bateman: Court Should Block New Housing Rules

Republican Deputy Conference Leader Kip Bateman made this statement after the League of Municipalities announced it is appealing to the courts to stop the Council on Affordable Housing from imposing unworkable and unaffordable rules on New Jersey communities and property taxpayers:

"I commend the League of Municipalities for its decisive leadership in challenging this attempt to trample on the historic rights of New Jersey residents to create and preserve unique and affordable communities.

"An attorney for the League called the regulations 'unsustainable and fatally flawed.' They are worse than that. These rules are an unprecedented attack on New Jersey's tradition of home rule.

"The rules will create sprawl by forcing towns to build on land that was set aside for open space, parks and recreational areas. They will destroy community character by requiring the construction of unsuitable buildings such as high rises in small towns. And they will boost property taxes, already the highest in the nation, by not providing funding needed to pay for mandated construction, schools and roads.

"New Jerseyans have always believed each community should have the maximum possible freedom to determine its own destiny. These rules take away local control over community planning and give it to state housing bureaucrats. Local taxpayers will foot the multi-billion dollar bill for a made-in-Trenton scheme that most oppose. The League goes out of its way to say that it isn't against affordable housing, but opposes rules that violate the tradition of home rule, run counter to the state's commitment to environmentally sound growth, and mandate billions of dollars of spending without providing the needed funding.

"I agree with the League's statement: 'We can do better.' It's hard to imagine we could do worse. I support the appeals and will look for opportunities to introduce legislation that prevents such abuse of our taxpayers from being implemented now or in the future."