Morristown adopts first-step affordable-housing obligation number; town lowers DCA's advisory figure

Morristown — The Town Council adopted Resolution R44-2025 Jan. 28 defining Morristown's affordable-housing obligations for the state's new planning period, a first formal step under New Jersey's 2024 affordable-housing law.

Town planners presented the council with the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) advisory calculation and a town review that revised the prospective need. Chris Colley, planner for the town, summarized the process: "The state put those numbers out in October through the DCA . . . communities have an opportunity to review what are advisory numbers from the DCA, look at how the DCA calculated the numbers, and then as the town take the methodology from the law and identify discrepancies or differences that you might know at the local level that weren't captured in the state number," he said.

DCA's advisory calculation assigned Morristown a prospective-need share that produced 341 units; town staff recalculated the developable land component and other factors and recommended a revised prospective need of 266 units. Planning staff also reported a present need (existing unmet need) of 40 units, a figure derived from federal datasets the DCA uses.

Chris Colley explained elements that changed the DCA estimate: the state screening identified roughly 47.43 acres as developable in Morristown; town staff said detailed parcel review removed sites that are not realistically buildable (including parts of town-owned facilities and parkland), leaving an estimated 14 developable acres. Colley said those parcel-level corrections reduced Morristown's proportional share of the regional obligation and lowered the resulting prospective unit total.

The council adopted the resolution as part of the evening's consent for multiple resolutions. The recorded roll call during the batch approval shows council members voting in favor of the listed resolutions, including R44-2025.

Why it matters: Adopting a prospective-need number is the first formal step required by the state's updated affordable-housing law. The figure will guide subsequent planning decisions, zoning updates, and mechanisms to meet the obligation, such as new-build affordable units, preserving existing affordable units, or using bonus-credit mechanisms.

Next steps: Town planners told the council that subsequent meetings will address how Morristown will meet the prospective need (options include new development, extending affordability for existing units, and bonus-credit programs). The resolution sets a procedural deadline the town is meeting and establishes the working baseline for future ordinances and planning actions.

Vote: Resolution R44-2025 adopted as part of a group of resolutions recorded on Jan. 28; the council's roll call on the package recorded all members present voting yes.