Ocean City Seeks Court Approval For Affordable Housing Accord

OCEAN CITY – Without discussion, much less fanfare, City Council on July 12, unanimously approved a settlement agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center agreeing to create at least 13 new affordable housing units in the city.
Council held a brief closed-door session on the matter before the vote, which took place as part of the governing body’s consent agenda, under which routine matters are decided by a single vote.
There was no public discussion on the settlement and no comment from the public.
The settlement still needs a judge’s approval. City Attorney Dorothy McCrosson said after the meeting that the matter will likely come before a judge in late August.
Contacted after the meeting, Anthony Campisi, a spokesman for the Fair Share Housing Center, praised the settlement.
“We’re happy that Ocean City has reached an agreement that expands access for working families to live down the shore,” he said in a phone interview.
Affordable housing is particularly important at the shore, he said, where property values are typically high, and the local economy depends on service workers to keep the boardwalk, the restaurants and other businesses running.
For the town, the agreement offers protection from what are known as builder’s remedy lawsuits, under which a developer may seek to supersede local land use laws by providing affordable housing that would otherwise be unavailable.
The affordable housing issue involves a complicated backstory, going back to the Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel decision in 1975. The court found that towns have an obligation to provide opportunities for affordable housing. New Jersey passed the Fair Share Housing Act in 1985, creating the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) to ensure towns met their legal obligation.
But COAH faced numerous legal challenges, as well as an attempt by Gov. Chris Christie to eliminate it entirely.
Local communities complained bitterly about round after round of obligations, determined by arcane rules and obscure processes that no one seemed to entirely grasp.
COAH continues to exist, but the enforcement falls to the courts, which have increasingly looked to the outside advocacy group Fair Share Housing Center.
“COAH failed over a 16-year period to come up with a set of rules that satisfied the law,” Campisi said.
If the affordable housing issue is complicated throughout New Jersey, there’s an additional wrinkle in Ocean City. A third party has gotten involved.
In July 2015, Ocean City had sought a declaratory judgment in Superior Court granting approval of its fair share housing plan. The courts have indicated that first; towns have to talk with the Fair Share Housing Center, according to the resolution approved July 12.
Then on Oct. 6, 2016, Flood Development LLC intervened in the lawsuit. Justin Flood, who heads Flood Development, did not immediately respond to a request for interview.
In published reports, it has been indicated that he wants to develop a site near the boardwalk, to include an affordable housing element on land his father, John Flood, owns on 16th Street.
John Flood was an unsuccessful mayoral candidate who challenged incumbent Jay Gillian in the May non-partisan vote. 
The city has not reached a settlement with Flood Development, McCrosson said. That won’t matter if the courts accept the agreement with Fair Share Housing Center.
“We essentially created a plan to provide the constitutionally-required number of affordable units in Ocean City,” McCrosson said.
She described the Fair Share group as a watchdog, which served as a major proponent of affordable housing while COAH was active. “We’ve reached an agreement with them. We’re asking the court to confirm that plan is constitutional.”
The settlement will include changing some Ocean City zoning rules. McCrosson said those ordinances would go before council this summer. The plan also includes working with the Ocean City Housing Authority, which oversees the federal housing projects in Ocean City, to renovate and expand its existing housing stock.
An expected requirement would call for any future multifamily development of five or more units to include at least one unit designated as affordable.
The proposal aims to create at least 133 new affordable housing units in the city, in addition to undertaking a housing rehabilitation program.
The settlement also pays the Fair Share Housing Center up to $15,000 to cover its attorney fees.
Campisi said the settlement agreement was the best and fastest way to increase the available affordable housing in Ocean City.
According to the approved resolution, the settlement will settle Ocean City’s obligation through 2025.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.