Millburn Must Add Affordable Housing Units: Settlement

MILLBURN, NJ — The Millburn Township Committee unanimously approved a settlement Tuesday night to help the township satisfy a decades-old obligation to provide the equivalent of 1,376 affordable housing units through the year 2025.

Millburn has laid out, below, how at least 194 affordable units will be built in upcoming developments. To satisfy the requirement, the township can also get credit for units already built, and can lower its obligation when there is a "lack of developable land."

The decision has its roots in a landmark 1975 New Jersey court case that ultimately required towns throughout the state to provide affordable housing within their borders, a mandate that some towns have been slow to satisfy.

A 46-year-old court case, NAACP vs. Mount Laurel, NJ, addressed exclusionary zoning practices in New Jersey towns.

Back in the 1970s, a group of residents of the South Jersey town of Mount Laurel sued that town for blocking attempts to build apartments for lower-income families.

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that municipalities must take affirmative measures to satisfy regional affordable housing needs.

Over the years, subsequent New Jersey legislation and court cases have reinforced the Mount Laurel ruling.

Now, New Jersey municipalities are under court order to provide opportunities for affordable housing development — often asking developers to include an affordable component in their residential projects — or to provide the equivalent in credits for past housing, such as group homes or senior housing.

Millburn Recently Faced Sanctions

Towns that don't satisfy the requirement face the risk of losing control of municipal planning and zoning to the courts.

Last month, Millburn was given an "aggressive" court-ordered deadline to settle the matter or face consequences, local officials said in a release.

The New Jersey Superior Court had issued a directive that required Millburn to develop and submit a plan to address its affordable housing obligations.

Township Responds

“Affordable housing is mandated by the State of New Jersey, enforced by the courts and essentially required by the state constitution,” said Millburn Mayor Tara Prupis Tuesday. “Once reviewed and approved by the court, this settlement agreement will allow Millburn, at long last, to meet its past and current affordable housing obligations, spanning the period of 1987 to 2025.”

Throughout the negotiations process, the court prohibited Millburn and other involved parties from discussing the settlement publicly, said a press release from the town.

Involved parties included the State of New Jersey; a court-recognized affordable housing advocate group (the non-profit Fair Share Housing Center); court-appointed Special Masters — who preside over specific affordable housing disputes in the courts — and developers seeking opportunities to build housing.

The settlement still must be approved by the courts.

Millburn Deputy Mayor Richard Wasserman, who co-chaired a steering committee on state-mandated affordable housing with Committeewoman Maggee Miggins, said, “For the past 38 years, Millburn, for one reason or another, failed to address and meet its state-mandated obligations on affordable housing."

He added, "...given the choices before us, this Township Committee has worked hard to secure the best possible outcome for Millburn ... our priority as a Township Committee has been focused on keeping density as low as possible in Millburn with an eye toward minimizing the impact on our infrastructure, public safety services, and schools.”

Municipalities can meet their affordable housing obligation by:

• Providing "realistic" opportunities for developers to build new affordable housing
• Applying credits toward the obligation (for example, for existing and approved affordable housing units, including group homes);
• Through adjustments to the obligation (when there is a lack of developable land in a town)
• Identifying and rezoning sites for future development of affordable housing; and
• Partnering with developers on 100 percent affordable housing projects.

Upcoming Affordable Housing In Millburn (Including Short Hills)

The township said it will satisfy the mandate through projects that have been approved or are under construction. Among them:

∙ The Upton, 1 Fineran Way, Short Hills. This 3.6-acre parcel, currently owned and operated by Roseland Properties, includes 193 total residential units, 30 of which are affordable housing units. These are the first affordable housing units offered in Millburn Township. This site is approved and under construction.
∙ 85 Woodland Ave., Millburn. This 1.5-acre parcel, owned by the Silverman Group, is slated to include 62 total residential units, 12 of which will be affordable housing. This site plan was approved and granted in May 2021. The site will also include 10,000 square feet of medical office space.
∙ 397 Millburn Ave., Millburn, the site of a former Wells Fargo branch. This 1.5- acre parcel, currently owned by Beahive Associates, calls for 53 total residential units, 8 of which will be affordable housing. The site, as designed, will also include 3,000 square feet of retail space.
Moving forward, Millburn will work with affordable housing developers to advance the following projects:
∙ 249 Millburn Ave., Millburn, the site of the former Annie Sez retail store. On this 2.2-acre parcel of land, currently owned by 249 Millburn Ave. LLC, a total of 150 residential units are proposed, 30 of which will be affordable housing.
∙ 345 Essex St., Millburn, the current location of the township’s department of public works. Proposed plans for a portion of this 4.6-acre parcel call for a total of 75 residential units, all of which will be affordable housing.
∙ On John F. Kennedy Parkway (Block 5302, Lot 5), Millburn, a 25-acre parcel with five to six acres of developable land. Currently owned by New Jersey American Water and under contract with Woodmont Properties, plans call for a total of 195 residential units, 39 of which will be affordable. The site requires approval by the state’s Watershed Property Review Board.

These projects provide 194 units. The settlement agreement also required the township to identify additional sites for potential future development through overlay zoning.

These sites are listed in detail in the settlement agreement and a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the settlement (see web addresses below).

Developers typically set aside 20 percent of the total housing units they build as affordable housing units, while selling or renting 80 percent of the housing units at market rates.

'We Share The Many Concerns'

This week, residents shared concerns on social media about the potential for overdevelopment and the possibility of more children in the school system.

“We share the many concerns expressed by our residents, friends and neighbors over this matter," Prupis said. "As such, the Millburn Township Committee will continue working hard to ensure that all state mandated affordable housing developments slated for Millburn under the settlement are constructed, over the ensuing years ahead, with the best interests of the town and its residents in mind.”

How To Qualify

Those who qualify for affordable housing units must meet criteria set by the state, based on income and the number of people living in a household.

More Information

To watch the Township Committee meeting, click here.

For more information about the state-mandated affordable housing issue in Millburn, visit: https://www.twp.millburn.nj.us...

Frequently asked questions and general information about affordable housing is here: https://www.twp.millburn.nj.us/AffordableHousingFAQ

To see the Aug. 17 meeting agenda, click here.

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