As I’ve been reporting on this blog, COAH regulations are eating at the quality of life in New Jersey. Fiscally, the program is already costing taxpayers greatly with the burden only forecast to increase to some $2 Billion a year per town. And in numerous cases, the housing is not going those it was intended for, but to former criminals and sex offenders.
But it’s even more than this. COAH is a regulatory nightmare that is undermining the authority of municipalities across the state and hampering their ability to run themselves and meet their obligations.
Perhaps nowhere else in the state is this more of an issue than in Hunterdon County (via NJ.com):
Hunterdon municipal officials whose towns lie in part or entirely within the environmentally sensitive Highlands region learned a few weeks ago they could get a one-year extension to the Dec. 31 deadline to develop their affordable housing plans if they agreed to follow the more stringent rules governing preservation areas in their town’s planning areas.
Now Highlands towns have been told they cannot approve any new residential development application unless it sets aside at least one-fifth of the homes for middle- and low-income families.
The “scarce resource restraint order” issued Nov. 12 by the state Council on Affordable Housing affects 15 Hunterdon municipalities and takes effect immediately.
For that reason, Ms. Karrow called the order “unconscionable.”
“It condemns Highlands municipalities to tax hell,” she said. “How are my municipalities expected to pay for new growth or annual increases in utilities, insurance and pension obligations without the ability to grow ratables?”
It does not prevent municipalities from granting permits for single-family or duplex units on existing lots. It also does not explicitly exclude commercial developments from the 20% rule.
The order prevents municipalities from granting development approvals, water and wastewater allocations until and unless they can demonstrate to COAH that those resources “have been dedicated on a priority basis for the production of affordable housing,” Ms. Vandenberg wrote, but gave no details.
According to Ms. Karrow, it means, “You can’t even build a Wawa or a gas station until you prove you meet your COAH requirement.”
Clinton Township Mayor Nick Corcodilos said by requiring towns in the Highlands to allocate the use of scarce resources for COAH housing before anything else, “It locks down and takes over all your land-use rules.” He said attorney John Drill advised the township Planning Board to explain to applicants that their approvals are subject to COAH’s rules, even if they change.
In truth, the order will have little impact on municipalities like Clinton Township, where developable land, sewer capacity and water availability are already in short supply, Mayor Corcodilos said Monday. “We’re already imposing a restriction on ourselves,” allocating what is left of these resources to COAH housing, “because we have to.”
Two pending township plans would yield 100 units, he said, practically tapping out township sewer and water opportunities. “Anyone who comes to Clinton Township and wants to build something must go to a private entity to get sewer capacity.”
This is what you get when you put in place socialistic policies in the name of the public good. In essence, we have tyranny of the state government over local branches of government. As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And until we repeal COAH, New Jersey will be feeling hotter and hotter.
Also, check out this related COAH story from the pressofatlanticcity.com. In particular, we agree with this quote from Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson:
“Is it a good idea to have affordable housing?… Of course. But I’m going to give you a better deal. How about an affordable state to live in? If you have an affordable state, you have affordable housing.”
