Lambertville advised to adopt resolution, file quick court action after state sets 39-unit fourth-round target

Lambertville officials and an advisory committee were told this week that the state's fourth-round affordable housing allocation gives the city a prospective need of 39 new units and creates a strict filing timetable that the city must meet to preserve immunity from exclusionary-zoning lawsuits.

Michael Sullivan, a municipal planning consultant, told the advisory group that the March 20, 2024 amendment to New Jersey's Fair Housing Act and a new Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program require towns that stipulate to their fourth-round obligation to file a declaratory-judgment action shortly after adopting a resolution. "Because we are in this court based system, we're gonna be required to file and declare for a judgment complaint or action in order to retain all protection from exclusionary, zoning litigation," Sullivan said.

Why it matters: The advisory committee must decide whether to recommend that the city council adopt a binding resolution by Jan. 31 and then file the declaratory-judgment action no later than Feb. 3. Sullivan warned that missing deadlines could expose the city to outside challenges and possible loss of local control in the process.

Sullivan outlined the interim timeline in detail: a Jan. 31 resolution, a declaratory-judgment filing within 48 hours of that resolution (and no later than Feb. 3), a Feb. 28 window for parties to challenge the obligation numbers, a March 31 date for the program to rule on timeliness and validity of challenges, and a June 30 deadline to adopt and file the housing element and fair-share ordinances. He said challenges to an adopted plan must be filed by Aug. 31 unless a grace period extends that window.

Allocation and calculation: Sullivan explained that Lambertville's prospective need of 39 units derives from a regional calculation administered by the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA). He said the town's land-capacity factor is zero because much of Lambertville is mapped in environmentally sensitive planning areas that are excluded from developable-land counts. "So the only factor that we actually could roll down and look at more detailed information, it's already at 0," Sullivan said. He added that the two other factors ' nonresidential valuation and income capacity ' are based on state data and census statistics and appear fixed.

Carryover and totals: Committee members asked whether the new 39-unit figure is added to any unfulfilled third-round obligations. Sullivan said it is, meaning Lambertville could face the fourth-round prospective need plus any outstanding units from round three. When asked about the figures mentioned earlier in the meeting, committee members referenced 28 unfulfilled round-three units, which combined with 39 would yield a potential total of 67 units to address over the planning periods.

Credits and compliance tools: Sullivan emphasized the allocation uses a mixture of new-construction counts, credits and bonuses (for special-needs housing, deed-restriction extensions and some redevelopment credits). He told the group that not all credits carry the same weight in the fourth round and that the fourth-round bonus structure differs from past rounds. "Out of 39 units, you are allowed up to 9 lowest credits," he said, and described minimum sub-requirements for family and rental units.

Community concerns and funding options: Residents and committee members asked whether existing programs ' including neighborhood-revitalization tax credits and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) resources ' could help finance rehabilitation or deed-restriction extensions. Chair noted the city's affordable housing trust fund balance, saying the trust had about $308,000, and suggested the council will need to decide whether to use those funds for administrative costs tied to the fourth round or cover them from the regular budget.

Multiple participants warned that Lambertville's environmental constraints and limited vacant land mean the city will likely rely on redevelopment, conversions and preservation of existing units. One committee member said the combined potential obligation would be a "major impact to this community" if the town needs to meet both round-three carryover and fourth-round totals.

Next steps: Sullivan and municipal counsel Kelly Grama will draft the resolution and the declaratory-judgment filing for the council. The advisory committee will continue meeting twice a month to inventory potential sites, evaluate credits and examine funding mechanisms. The meeting closed with an announcement that slides and the recording would be posted on the city website.

Sources and attributions: Quotes and assertions in this report are taken from the advisory committee meeting presentation and public Q&A, principally remarks by Michael Sullivan and the Chair as recorded in the committee transcript. Where participants referenced specific numeric items (for example, 39 units and a cited trust-fund balance of $308,000), those values were spoken during the meeting and are reported as stated; outstanding details (exact round-three unfulfilled unit count and precise planned council action dates) were discussed but may be subject to confirmation at future council agenda meetings.

What comes next: If the council adopts the drafted resolution and the city files the declaratory-judgment action within the statutory windows, Lambertville would preserve the immunity path described by Sullivan; the advisory committee will next focus on tallying realistic redevelopment sites, credit opportunities, and funding strategies to meet the obligation.