New Jersey Governor Chris Christie this week proposed a new plan that would reduce the state’s control over how New Jersey’s towns and municipalities meet their obligation to provide affordable housing. The proposal would abolish the state’s Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), which has been criticized as overly bureaucratic, eliminate affordable housing quotas and effectively allow localities to determine their own affordable housing demand. In its place, towns could instead set aside 10 percent of all new residential developments of 11 or more units for low- and moderate-income housing. Municipalities also could opt to impose a fee of up to 2.5 percent of a project’s fair market value, to be deposited in a housing fund. Towns could use the fund to pay, among other things, for rehabilitation projects elsewhere or into a state fund that would underwrite rehab projects in other towns. The proposal is opposed by many affordable housing advocates as it would enable towns to block affordable housing and may also violate the state’s constitution. Read More…