City officials are building a database to gauge the amount, which is part of an effort to determine how many new units need be built to meet the new state affordable housing requirements.
The Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), a state organization that sets guidelines for municipalities to meet their affordable housing obligations, stated that affordable rental housing in New Jersey should not cost more than 28 percent of a person's income.
COAH is now requiring municipalities to provide one affordable housing unit for every eight market-rate units built and for every 25 jobs created. Previously, municipalities were assigned a specific number of affordable housing units to be built within their borders.
Currently, Jersey City requires developers of market-rate housing to contribute $1,500 per unit to the city's affordable housing trust fund. Then, the city can build more affordable housing.
Doug Greenfeld, supervising planner for the Jersey City Department of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce, is heading up a team of city officials who are conducting the count of affordable housing units in the city.
Greenfeld said it's going to be a large task.
"Because we have had so much development in Jersey City, the work to compile all information needed is greater than expected," he said.Checking and more checking
Greenfeld said garnering the information requires viewing lists of affordable housing projects already constructed and those in the pre-construction phase, and cross checking them to come up with an accurate number.
Greenfeld said that having a count would let the city receive credit against their future affordable housing obligation.
Greenfeld and other officials need to put together a "housing element," a part of the city's master plan that looks at the amount of affordable housing needed between 1987 and 2014.
Among the information required is a projection of future construction and future jobs and employment trends from Jan. 1, 2004 to Jan. 1, 2014.
Also, the city has to put together a "fair share plan," a detailed proposal of the means it will employ to provide more affordable housing. Meeting the need
Jersey City is one of 287 municipalities in New Jersey that is certified by COAH to provide affordable housing without being subject to litigation from developers, known as "builders remedy lawsuits," to exclude that housing from their projects.
A projection done last year by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) states that between 2000 and 2030 there will be an increase of over 60,000 new residents in Jersey City. While many of those residents are expected to move into market-rate housing, there will be even more who will be looking for dwellings that won't drain their budgets.
That need is also not lost on politicians, who depend on a base of middle and low-income residents for taxes and votes.
Mayor Jerramiah Healy weighed in on the issue recently.
"We need to keep our longtime residents in the city. It's nice to have new residents move in and to see new development, all of which brings new ratables," said Healy. "But our older residents, many of whom aren't wealthy, are the backbone of the city."
The median income of families in Jersey City, according to the 2000 Census, is $41,639.
Healy balked at the suggestion to increase developers' contributions to the city's affordable housing trust fund from $1,500 per unit of market rate apartments built to a higher dollar amount.
"It would be great if we could get $30,000 per unit from a developer, but there needs to be a balance," said Healy. "We want affordable housing, but we don't want to chase developers out of the city." Trust fund up to $6M
The affordable housing trust fund is now up to $6 million.
City Councilman Steven Fulop, who represents Downtown Jersey City where housing and rental prices are the highest in the city, lamented the lack of affordable housing in the area.
"I would seek 'inclusionary zoning,' because there's not a lot of land left in Downtown," said Fulop. "Inclusionary zoning" is zoning regulations that create incentives or requirements for affordable housing development.
Arnold Cohen, policy coordinator for Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, a statewide association of more than 250 affordable housing and community development corporations, said Jersey City needs to meet the need for affordable housing.
"Affordable housing should be all across the city, not just in certain sections," said Cohen. "Thirty percent of all growth in Jersey City should be affordable housing." Increasing the stock
At Tuesday's Planning Board meeting, several affordable housing projects received approval, including an 83-unit Jersey City Housing Authority project on Duncan Avenue, in which 74 units will be affordable.
John Restrepo, real estate director for the Jersey City Episcopal Community Development Corporation, received the board's approval at the meeting of two affordable two-family homes on Orient Avenue.
Restrepo has overseen a number of affordable projects in Jersey City. He said bringing more affordable housing to the city is a difficult process.
"A lot of work is negotiations with private owners and making sure all the funding sources are in place," said Restrepo. "But it is important to continue to pursue this effort. I remember a newspaper one time reporting on a project I was working on, and within a week I received over 120 inquiries." Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com
Post a Comment