Bayonne council accepts state's round-4 rehabilitation obligation; plan process to follow

The Bayonne Municipal Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution accepting the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) advisory figures for the municipality's round-4 affordable-housing obligation, triggering a required court filing and starting a formal planning process to meet a roughly 10-year rehabilitation target.

Council attorneys and planning consultants briefed the council before the vote, saying the state-provided "present need" (rehabilitation) number for Bayonne is 749 units and the city currently has a "prospective need" of zero. The action authorizes the city's affordable-housing counsel to file for a declaratory judgment with the Superior Court under the revised Mount Laurel process and to begin preparing the municipal housing plan and spending plan.

"This is a resolution accepting the DCA numbers so that we meet statutory deadlines," said the city consultant who prepared counter-models during 2024. He and the city's affordable-housing counsel advised the council that DCA's methodology is credible and that meeting the statutory deadlines preserves the city's protections from builder-remedy lawsuits.

Council discussion included how rehabilitation credits can be earned. Planning consultants and counsel said rehabilitation work on existing units, approved new affordable units and previously recorded credits (for example, public or housing-authority projects) can all generate credits against the rehabilitation obligation. The consultants noted a mix of approaches is typical: city-run rehabilitation programs, housing-authority capital improvements, and crediting newly constructed affordable units.

Council members pressed for clarity about how trust-fund monies would be used and whether city policy could require inclusionary affordable units in redevelopment projects. Consultants confirmed the state obligation covers low- and moderate-income units (generally up to 80% of area median income) and that local policy choices can encourage or require additional workforce units, but that the Mount Laurel crediting rules and state regulations govern what counts toward the 749-unit rehabilitation figure.

The resolution passed unanimously. Staff said the next steps include filing a declaratory-judgment action within the statutory window, preparing a spending plan for the city's affordable housing trust fund and convening required public meetings and planning-board reviews as part of the housing plan process.

Council members and staff emphasized that the action does not itself spend money or impose a new local requirement; it sets the procedural path for the city to document how it will meet the obligation.