Ridgewood to declare fourth‑round affordable housing obligation; planner recommends correcting DCA figure to 394

Ridgewood Village officials were briefed Wednesday on the state’s fourth‑round affordable housing process and a recommended correction to the Department of Community Affairs’ calculation of the borough’s new‑construction obligation.

Beth McManus, the village’s affordable housing planner, said the first action the council must take is to adopt a resolution by the end of January declaring the village’s participation in the state program and publishing its calculated obligations.

The nut of McManus’ presentation was procedural but consequential: the DCA’s worksheet lists Ridgewood’s new‑construction obligation as 427 units, and McManus recommended that the council correct that calculation to 394 units by removing roughly 7 acres that DCA had counted as developable land. She told the council the 7 acres appear in three categories she believes should be excluded: parcels in the floodway or special flood hazard area, narrow parcels that cannot support meaningful development, and land that serves as…