Council Committee Recommends Waiting for Christie on COAH

A Town Council committee recommended to the full Council Tuesday evening that action on ordinances relating to the town's affordable housing policy be suspended pending a report by a task force convened Tuesday by Gov. Chris Christie.

Christie announced Tuesday that he was suspending the work of the state's Council on Affordable Housing for 90 days and forming a task force to review COAH and the state's affordable housing policies. The governor said that he was forming the review task force because he believes the current COAH procedures are "excessively complex and unworkable." The task force will develop a new statewide policy on affordable housing and come up with new procedures regarding the work on local governments on affordable housing policy. New Jersey's current affordable housing regulations have long been opposed by local governments, which have complained about the state definitions of available space and have said the regulations were confusing.

Councilman Jim Foerst, the chairman of Council's code review committee, explained the committee wants to hold off on a review of the proposed ordinances designed to implement the COAH plan the town submitted to state officials for review. The plan was in response to state demands for the town to submit a plan to address affordable housing concerns.

"We're recommending that we sit still for a while and see how things shake out in Trenton," Foerst said.

Christie's task force is expected to deliver a report in 90 days on the new affordable housing policy. Foerst said that once the task force report is delivered, and the governor decides how to proceed on the topic, his committee will start reviewing the town's affordable housing policy again and will develop a schedule for implementing new ordinances.