Oroho: New Housing Policy From Corzine Can't Wait Until Year-End

By Andrew Pratt

'We expect changes to our housing policy by the end of the year.'

Corzine spokesman, responding to Star-Ledger questions about housing ruling.

Senator Steve Oroho, R-Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon, said an Appeals Court ruling this week has thrown community housing and job creation programs into chaos and made towns vulnerable to costly lawsuits at a time when every municipal budget is under unprecedented strain. It's critical that laws be passed immediately that will stop the harmful effects of this ruling from spreading to other towns and finally provide the state with a workable, sensible housing plan, Oroho said. Oroho called on Corzine to endorse calls for a special session of the Legislature to begin debate on how to fix the state's broken housing policies.

"Governor Corzine's published statements on the housing ruling do not reflect the sense of urgency that local officials feel," Oroho said. "This is the worst possible time for towns to be hit with lawsuits that can cost millions of dollars to defend. Without swift action, this ruling is guaranteed to send property taxes higher."

Appeals judges allowed a developer to build eight units of low-income housing in an area zoned for single family homes. The court ruled that the developer must be granted a variance even though the city had met the quota for affordable housing set by the state.

"Former Community Affairs Commissioner Joe Doria testified to legislators repeatedly that the Corzine administration would protect cities that met their state housing obligations from lawsuits," Oroho said. "The governor needs to say immediately if he plans to have the attorney general challenge the ruling, or offer legislation that will correct this problem."

Oroho the housing quotas would cost communities billions of dollars in property taxes. "The unfunded mandate resulting from state housing law has just ballooned again because this ruling means that towns no longer know how many houses they will have to build," Oroho said. "We must act quickly and decisively to help towns eliminate this problem."

At the very least, the governor needs to push the Office of Smart Growth to release its Rutgers University consultant report that will provide important data on how many affordable housing units are really needed in New Jersey.