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Clark Township planning board told council formed affordable-housing subcommittee to develop housing element
Summary
Township counsel told the Planning Board the Township Council accepted the Department of Community Affairs allocation for the fourth round, filed a declaratory judgment, and created an affordable housing subcommittee; planning board must adopt a housing element and fair share plan by June 30.
Township counsel told the Clark Township Planning Board on March 6 that the Township Council accepted the Department of Community Affairs allocation of the township’s fourth-round affordable-housing obligation and filed a declaratory judgment action notifying the court of that acceptance.
Counsel said no challenges to the council’s acceptance were filed by the Feb. 28 objection deadline and that the council created an affordable-housing subcommittee to develop the township’s housing element and fair share plan. "The chair has graciously agreed to volunteer for that position," the township attorney said.
The nut of the matter is timing and process: the planning board must adopt a housing element and fair share plan—also described in the meeting as the affordable housing plan—by June 30. Counsel told the board the subcommittee, which includes the mayor, a council designee, a planning-board representative, the township attorney, the special affordable-housing counsel, and the planner, will meet periodically over the coming months to draft the plan for the board’s review.
During the report counsel said the council reviewed the Department of Community Affairs calculation, found it consistent with applicable law, adopted a resolution accepting the allocation and directed the township attorney to notify the court; counsel confirmed the Jan. 31 filing deadline for that notification was met. Counsel also noted that parties that could have objected—including residents, developers or organizations such as Fair Share Housing Center—had until Feb. 28 to file objections and none had done so.
Board members did not object to having a planning-board representative sit on the subcommittee and the clerk circulated the council resolution to the planning board members at the meeting.
The discussion clarified next steps and deadlines but did not change any statutory requirements; the planning board will review and act on the draft housing element and fair share plan when the subcommittee completes its work.
Looking ahead, counsel said the subcommittee’s work over the next several months will inform the planning board’s formal review and the board’s required adoption of the housing element and fair share plan by June 30.
