Bayonne City Council Endorses Fourth-Round Housing Element, Approves Draft Spending Plan Submission

Bayonne City Council on June 11, 2025 unanimously endorsed the city's fourth-round housing element and fair-share plan and authorized submission of an attached draft spending plan and rehabilitation manual to the statewide affordable housing dispute-resolution program.

The endorsement, presented by affordable-housing counsel Derek Orth, moves the draft spending plan into the two-month state review and objection period required under the amended New Jersey Fair Housing Act. Orth told the council the plan is structured to preserve the city's affordable housing trust fund and to document how the city intends to commit funds so they are not swept into the state's broader trust.

Why it matters: Orth said the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) determined Bayonne's rehabilitation obligation for the fourth round is 749 units. He said Bayonne has already completed roughly 982 rehabs since 2020 and that the city's affordable housing trust fund now holds about $15,000,000 in nonresidential development fees. The spending plan, still in draft form, establishes broad spending buckets and lists specific, currently identified expenditures so the city can retain those dollars and…