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Green Township authorizes execution of final Fair Share Housing consent order, sets conditions for compliance
Summary
The Green Township Committee authorized its attorney to execute a Final Consent Order resolving Fourth Round affordable-housing obligations; the court filings set unit counts, identified shortfalls tied to sewer capacity, and impose administrative deadlines and monitoring requirements for compliance certification.
The Green Township Committee on June 1 authorized its attorney to execute a Final Consent Order with the Fair Share Housing Center that, if implemented, would resolve the township's Fourth Round affordable-housing obligations and trigger a 10-year compliance certificate and repose period covering July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2035.
The consent order — described to the committee by Township Attorney Ursula H. Leo and filed as an exhibit to Resolution 2026-114 — records the township's Housing Element and Fair Share Plan (HEFSP) filings and sets the township's numeric obligations: Present-need (rehabilitation) 4 units; Prior-round 20 units; Third-round 102 units; and Fourth-round prospective need 249 units. The order also documents shortfalls and provides a durational adjustment of 328 units tied to the township's current lack of public sewer capacity, and it identifies mechanisms and conditions for meeting obligations if sewer and water capacity are provided.
Why it matters: the consent order, once executed and if the listed conditions are met, would grant Green Township a formal Compliance Certification under the Fair Housing Act and Mount Laurel doctrine, which limits exclusionary zoning litigation for a defined period. The order includes monitoring and administrative requirements — annual AHMS reporting and a midpoint realistic-opportunity review — and requires the township to adopt several administrative documents and appointments to satisfy conditions.
Key requirements and conditions: the consent order and accompanying schedule (filed with the court and incorporated into the meeting record) call for the township to deliver several adopted documents and appointments by specified dates, including an Affirmative Marketing Plan, an updated Fourth Round Spending Plan allocating sufficient funds for the township’s proposed Accessory Apartment program and market-to-affordable program, and resolutions appointing a Municipal Housing Liaison and an Administrative Agent. The order also requires the township to cooperate with applicants and to reserve newly available sewer or water capacity for affordable housing on a priority basis.
What the committee did: by adopting Resolution 2026-114 the committee authorized the township attorney to finalize the order. Committee members asked procedural clarifications during the discussion; Committee Member Bader Qarmout requested clarification of the court process and Phillips asked that a copy of the resolution be shared with Land Use Board members.
What remains open: the order contains specific administrative deadlines and conditions (for example, several filings and adopted manuals are listed as deliverables to FSHC). The consent order text in the meeting record also notes that some proposed development mechanisms are contingent on new sewer and water capacity and that some shortfalls remain. The committee’s authorization allows the attorney to sign the Final Order, but meeting minutes do not show that the listed administrative deliverables had yet been completed. The township’s next procedural step is to implement the administrative tasks and documents the order requires so the court can enter final compliance certification.
