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Sept. 9 to 15
Housing Crisis
Everyone seems to agree that New Jersey has a housing crisis. According to the Fair Share Housing Center, the state has a shortage of affordable housing, and overall housing costs are at record highs.
Calculations show the state with a shortage of 200,000 to 300,000 affordable housing units. Rents in New Jersey are 19% higher than the national median. Add to that the fact that Forbes puts New Jersey in the top 10 states for median home prices.
No matter how you look at it, putting a roof over your head in New Jersey is expensive, and it is not getting better. In Cape May County, year-over-year home price increases have been the highest of the Garden State’s 21 counties, according to the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
In March, Gov. Phil Murphy signed what he termed landmark legislation aimed at increasing the number of affordable housing units across the state.
For over 50 years the state has grappled with what has become known as the Mount Laurel Doctrine, a reference to state constitutional case law that requires municipalities to provide realistic opportunities for the construction of low- and moderate-income housing within their towns. Housing is considered affordable when prices, rent and associated utilities do not equal more than 30% of a household’s gross income.
The state set up an administrative office known as the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) to oversee the process. The courts declared the agency dead in 2015, making the affordable housing obligations subject to judicial oversight.
The new law ends the court-run system, abolishes the moribund COAH agency, increases protections from lawsuits under specific conditions and provides bonus credits that can be earned and then used to meet municipal obligations.
The Fair Share Housing Center says the new law provides “one of the strongest frameworks in the U.S. to require affordable homes in historically exclusionary communities.”
This month nine municipalities challenged the new law in Superior Court, calling it unconstitutional and arguing, “Today’s circumstances are vastly different from 1983, and the Mount Laurel II judicial remedy – as reiterated through the law – lacks continued vitality.”
Mosquitoes
Simply put, the risk of mosquito-borne diseases is rising with the increase in temperatures. The federal Centers for Disease Control has issued health advisories about the rising risk associated with vector-borne diseases, those transmitted by blood-feeding creatures like mosquitoes and ticks. One problem is the seasons for exposure are lengthening as warmer weather keeps the mosquitoes and ticks around longer.
CDC officials say these illnesses are among the fastest-growing group of diseases on the planet. The usual dangers are West Nile Virus and eastern equine encephalitis. What has been getting most of the attention of late is the danger of the dengue virus and something called Oropouche virus, for which the warnings are particularly strong for women who are pregnant.
Health and Human Services released a national strategy on vector-borne diseases in February involving 17 federal departments.
Earlier this year, Puerto Rico declared a public health emergency due to increases in dengue, and cases in the U.S. mainland have doubled since 2023. On Sept. 11 the CDC said locally acquired cases of dengue have been detected in Florida, Texas, Hawaii, Arizona and California.
In Cape May County, mosquitoes have been detected with West Nile Virus and one with eastern equine encephalitis. They were found in Upper and Lower townships, Cape May City and Woodbine. Trapping, testing and spraying of mosquitoes continues in affected areas.
The public is advised to use insect repellent approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, avoid outdoor activities from dusk to dawn, wear long-sleeved shirts and pants when outside, remove standing water containers at least once a week and check exposure levels at your destination before travel.
Solar Power
New Jersey has had significant problems in getting its offshore wind initiative going. But the state is doing well in its growth of solar energy, also a big part of the Garden State’s renewable energy plans. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, New Jersey ranks 10th in the nation for total installed solar capacity.
Total capacity installed as of the end of 2023 is reported at 5,434 megawatts (5.4 gigawatts). That represents about 7% of the state’s energy consumption. Murphy set a goal of 32 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2050. To make the math easier for those doing it, 1,000 megawatts equals 1 gigawatt.
Today there are 459 solar companies in New Jersey, of which 257 are installers/developers with roughly 200,000 installations.
While most annual installations are residential, commercial establishments are active in new installations, and community installations are growing. There is very little in the way of utility installation activities.
One example of a large-scale community solar project is in Toms River, where a 29-megawatt project produces enough electricity to power more than 5,000 homes.
Solar power fields in New Jersey have their opposition. The fields are attacked by some as too expensive and as damaging to the landscape and environment. In Warren County, a residents group filed a lawsuit to stop a 600-acre solar field project on the grounds that it would diminish property values and harm the quality of life. Solar farms often face the same problem as offshore and onshore wind farms: Many residents don’t want them in their backyard.
This is the problem that community and commercial solar farms and onshore and offshore wind farms share.
Happenings
Stone Harbor Borough Administrator Manny Parada says that changes in state Department of Environmental Protection water permit regulations will require the addition of as many as 14 new borough employees.
Ceremonies were held on 9/11 in many Cape May County municipalities to mark the day 23 years ago when two jets flew into the World Trade Center towers in New York, killing 2,996 people, 750 from New Jersey.
Cape May County government officials were joined by business representatives at a press conference at which they said they would fight newly proposed state environmental regulations they say are designed to drive residents away from Shore areas.
Recent developments in tracking technology that have allowed scientists to learn about the migration habits of monarch butterflies will be the subject of a TEDx presentation at Atlantic Cape Community College on Sept. 19.
Nine New Jersey towns have filed a legal challenge to what state officials called a landmark bill overhauling aspects of the state’s affordable housing statutes.
The Avalon Borough Council has approved a $7 million bond ordinance for renovations of Bay Park Marina, and has awarded an $8.6 million construction contract for the project to Fred M. Schiavone Construction Inc. of Malaga.
The New Jersey State Police announced the arrest of one of two suspects in the Sept. 10 shooting incident that led to Dennis Township schools being closed for the day.
The Ocean City Council has introduced a $6.3 million bond ordinance, with $3.3 million for the purchase of two parking lots adjacent to the municipal lot behind City Hall and $3 million for boardwalk improvements.
Three men have filed separate $10 million civil lawsuits against the Bethel Commandment Church of the Living God of New Jersey in Whitesboro, against men who were in church leadership and against Middle Township, for what they said were years of sexual and physical abuse when they were minors.
A 9-year-old boy from Ocean View and a corrections officer died Thursday, Sept. 12, when an SUV was involved in a collision with a motorcycle in Vineland.
Rising electricity prices are of great concern across Cape May County. Its congressional and state representatives have called for hearings by the state Board of Public Utilities and by the Legislature. Readers have written the Herald with stories of significant increases in their monthly bills from Atlantic City Electric.
Spout Off of the Week
NJ DEP Real Project: I’ve received numerous letters from elected officials about the State’s plans for our community, but it’s all very confusing. I wish there was more straightforward information explaining how these changes will impact my home, especially if I want to make improvements, and how much this new insurance will cost. I currently don’t pay for flood insurance because my property has never flooded, but now I’m being told I’ll be required to get it?
Cape May County
