COURT HOUSE – Middle Township Committee adopted two ordinances Oct. 17 that seek to create meaningful opportunities for the development of low- and moderate-income housing in the Township Residential (TR) zone. The ordinances are part of the settlement agreement the township reached with the Fair Share Housing Center (FSHC) following litigation initiated by FSHC over how the township would meet its obligation for affordable housing.
The TR zone is in pockets of land largely along Route 9 running from Court House to Rio Grande, with heavy concentrations in the commercial centers and in the Whitesboro and Burleigh communities. The first of the two ordinances mandates a 20% set aside for all housing developments of five or more residential units. The ordinance then allows for greater density for such housing developments in this zone as a means of offsetting the financial burden for developers who must comply with the set aside.
Put simply, any housing development of 5 or more units in one of the designated TR zone areas of the township must set aside 20% of those units, one out of every five, for low- or moderate-income housing.
Since doing so makes it less financially attractive for a developer who is seeking to recover costs, the township will allow more units per acre of space than its zoning requirements elsewhere would allow. The added density helps to create a financial incentive for the developer.
Under the affordable housing obligations as they have evolved since the landmark Mt. Laurel doctrine was adopted by the New Jersey courts in the 1980s, the township is required to create a reasonable opportunity for the development of affordable housing. The township is not required to build any affordable housing itself. Creating a reasonable opportunity for development usually involves incentives like alterations to density requirements.
In the case where affordable housing complexes are developed as they were with the two Conifer developments in Court House and Rio Grande, tax abatements are also common. The 2022 township budget shows both of these residential complexes pay a payment in lieu of taxes that is lower than the assessed value of the properties would normally require.
The second of the two ordinances moved ten lots along the Route 9 corridor from the residential zone to the TR zone. The settlement with the FSHC included an agreement to rezone certain properties to the TR zone “in order to create more realistic opportunities for the development of housing for low- and moderate-income households.”
Mayor Timothy Donohue said the township is near the end of the adjustments it has had to make in order to comply with the terms of the settlement agreement.
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