Bayonne council endorses fourth‑round housing element and draft spending plan

The City of Bayonne Municipal Council on June 11, 2025, unanimously endorsed a resolution affirming the city’s fourth‑round housing element and fair‑share plan and authorizing submission of an attached draft spending plan and rehabilitation manual to the Statewide Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program.

Derek Orth, the city’s special affordable‑housing counsel, told the council the endorsement is needed promptly because the municipality must submit the plan within 48 hours of the planning board’s action. “The spending plan constitutes a commitment to spend those dollars,” Orth said, adding that the plan is intended to preserve local affordable‑housing trust funds from state reclamation and to create a framework for future expenditures.

Why it matters: the endorsement preserves about $15 million currently held in Bayonne’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and authorizes a draft framework that the city says will be used to finance rehabilitation and other affordable‑housing activities in coming years. The draft spending plan and rehab manual are being submitted now to secure the city’s participation in the new statewide fourth‑round process, after which the state program will review and allow a period for objections before final approval or court…