Rutherford consultant says DCA fourth‑round calculation drops prospective need to 210 units; council to consider next‑phase study

Rutherford officials heard a consultant's presentation on Jan. 27 that recalculated the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs' (DCA) fourth‑round affordable‑housing ‘‘prospective need’’ and outlined a second phase of study that will examine actual developable parcels.

The council was told the consultant’s parcel‑by‑parcel review reduced the DCA figure from 223 prospective units to 210 and that a follow‑up vacant‑land analysis and housing‑element work will be delivered in June; council members and residents pressed for more public education and clarity about how the new number fits with prior rounds.

Lindsay, a planner working with the consultant team, told the council she and her colleagues ‘‘checked their math’’ and used the state’s published factors to re‑examine parcel suitability. ‘‘So the process that we were able to remove some parcels to bring your unit count for prospective need to 210 units in lieu of the 223 units that DCA had calculated,’’ Lindsay said. She described the state’s three equally weighted factors (nonresidential valuation, median income compared to the lowest median in the housing region, and a land‑capacity mapping layer) and said some mapped areas were removed because they were…