Sanivita Chavan, a professional planner with H2M, told the Pompton Lakes Planning Board on May 20 that recent state legislation and Department of Community Affairs rules have set a new process for allocating municipal affordable-housing obligations and that the borough must move quickly to amend its master plan and adopt a housing element and fair-share plan.

Chavan said the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) assigned Pompton Lakes a prospective-round obligation of 105 new-construction units and a present rehabilitative need of 49 units, for a combined total of 154 units (numbers presented by the consultant). "If we don't comply and meet the deadline, what that does is makes us susceptible to somebody coming in and saying the town is not meeting the constitutional obligation," Chavan said.

The nut graf: The presentation explained why the board must amend the master plan and why the governing body must endorse that amendment within tight statutory deadlines so the borough can obtain court immunity and avoid so-called builder's-remedy litigation that could allow developers to seek court approval for projects the borough has not approved.

Chavan summarized the legal and procedural background: the state'level Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) was abolished and enforcement has returned to the courts; the recently enacted bill and DCA rules create new timelines and a process for assigning obligations by housing region; and Pompton Lakes is in Region 1 for the DCA allocation process. She said the DCA's calculations are region-based, not town-specific, and that the state-assigned median-income thresholds are applied to the region when determining affordability bands.

On land capacity, Chavan and the board said Pompton Lakes appears to have essentially no developable vacant land for large multiunit projects. Chavan described the required vacant-land/realistic-development-potential (RDP) analysis and said Pompton Lakes' RDP is effectively zero, which creates an "unmet need" equal to the prospective obligation. To address unmet need, Chavan described mechanisms the borough already has or can use: credits from prior projects (including residual credits from Pompton Lake Senior Housing), a mandatory set-aside ordinance for multiunit developments, a residential development-fee ordinance with an affordable-housing trust fund, and rezoning of targeted sites such as the Tilcon/quarry site.

Chavan said the borough's draft approach would try to provide realistic opportunity for about 25% of the 105 units (roughly 27 units) through a combination of existing credits and zoning mechanisms, while other portions of the obligation would rely on development fees, mandatory set-asides, and future redevelopment candidates. "The affordable-housing obligation is not an obligation to provide built units. It is [an obligation] to provide a realistic opportunity to have the affordable housing there," a presenter said.

Board members asked for clarification about regional median-income figures, the source of the 27-unit figure, and whether credits from prior rounds count toward this round's obligation. Chavan and other staff said prior-round credits already accounted for some units (the presentation cited 8 remaining credits from the senior-housing project) but that units counted in prior rounds do not automatically count toward the new 2025''2035 round unless documented as credits. Board members also asked how a developer filing an application after adoption would affect the borough's accounting; staff said a qualifying development could produce credits when it reaches resolution-compliance and certificate-of-occupancy stages.

Next steps and deadlines: Chavan said she intends to deliver a draft housing element and fair-share plan to the planning board and borough clerk by June 6, 2025, and asked the board to be prepared to adopt a master-plan amendment and a resolution that the governing body must endorse by June 30, 2025, to preserve the borough's position in the DCA/court process.

The presentation emphasized process limits and local control: while a builder's-remedy suit can lead to court-ordered zoning changes elsewhere, Pompton Lakes retains its zoning authority so long as it follows the statutory process and demonstrates realistic development opportunities and supporting mechanisms in its plan.

The board did not vote on any ordinance or resolution at the May 20 meeting; the presentation was informational and staff committed to returning with a written housing element and fair-share plan for public hearing and action at the next meeting.

Ending: Chavan and staff asked board members and the public to submit detailed questions before the June meeting; the planner said the forthcoming draft will include maps, demographic analysis, RDP calculations, and a list of the specific zoning or ordinance changes staff will recommend if the board and council choose to proceed.