Land development regulations: Roadblock to affordable housing

Land development regulations in the state of New Jersey have been used to control development since the mid-1970s. The demand for affordable housing in the state is reaching a critical period since the median price of a single-family dwelling in New Jersey currently exceeds $170,000. Through various court decisions, there has been an attempt in the last few years to force affordable housing upon individual townships. This court remedy and the associated legislative action have been essentially stalled due to the myriad of independent environmental regulations that exist throughout the state. At the present time, a land development project faces independent action from the local and county planning boards as well as a long list of individual permits required by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy (NJDEPE). Since all the preceding items are treated as independent and theoretically unrelated review procedures, the time it takes for a developer to obtain the necessary approvals prior to construction has risen to an average of two years. The paper will discuss these conditions and the impact upon market-rate units and affordable housing in the state of New Jersey.