BRIELLE — The borough council approved a resolution that accepts 65 affordable housing units as a part of the borough’s round 4 obligation, which is part of a total obligation estimated to be around 400 units.
In 2025, New Jersey enters the fourth round of affordable housing obligations under the Mount Laurel Doctrine. Each municipality obligation will be reassessed based on New Jersey’s growing and changing population to meet the needs of New Jersey residents.
While New Jersey is still facing a significant shortage of affordable homes, the state is also experiencing unprecedented development in comparison to neighboring jurisdictions in the region, according to the Fair Share Housing Center, a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Cherry Hill.
Councilman John Visceglia asked Borough Administrator Thomas F. Nolan for background on the resolution.
Nolan said, “Basically we are accepting the Department of Community Affairs allocation of 65 units. We’ve had the opportunity to review with our experts and they tell us that if we were to fight it, the best we could achieve is 63.” Nolan added that the cost of litigation would not be worth reducing the obligation by only two units.
Visceglia asked Nolan if the 65 units go against the previous belief that the borough needed more than 300 affordable housing units.
Nolan turned the question over to the borough’s Mount Laurel attorney, Jeffrey R. Surenian.
Surenian said, “The Department of Community Affairs issued their numbers for the present need, which is a rehab number and the round 4 component, on October 18, and the statute that was enacted in March provides that towns have an obligation by the end of January to commit or not commit to those numbers. All this does is address the rehab component, which is zero and the round 4 component, which is 65.”
According to Surenian, the affordable housing requirements from round 1 to 3 would not be affected by the approval of this resolution.
This is an excerpt of the print article. For more on this story, read The Coast Star—on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.
Check out our other Brielle stories, updated daily. And remember to pick up a copy of The Coast Star—on newsstands Friday or online in our e-Edition.
Subscribe today! If you're not already an annual subscriber to The Coast Star, get your subscription today! For just $38 per year, you will receive local mail delivery weekly, with pages and pages of local news and online access to our e-edition on Starnewsgroup.com.
 6x10 4c.jpg)
