Green Township Land Use Board adopts 2025 Housing Element and Fair Share Plan

The Green Township Land Use Board unanimously adopted the township's 2025 Housing Element and Fair Share Plan at its June 12 meeting, approving a correction to an internal table and memorializing the action by roll-call votes.

Jessica Caldwell, the board planner, presented the plan and said it includes the elements required under the Fair Housing Act and the applicable Land Use Law, including demographic and housing analyses, cost reviews and maps of locations appropriate for potential development. "The housing element itself includes all of the required elements from the Fair Housing Act in compliance the Land Use Law," Caldwell said.

Caldwell described past compliance steps: an earlier (prior-round) obligation of 20 units was satisfied in part through a Regional Contribution Agreement (RCA) that paid for rehabilitation in Hoboken, producing 13 rehabilitated units and credits used toward the prior-round obligation. She said she found an error in a plan table that had inconsistently listed the Hoboken RCA credits; she will correct the table so the RCA credit total remains recorded as two, which reduces the plan's previously reported third-round constructed count from 11 to 8.

The planner said the township's third-round obligation (1999—2025) was 102 units, and that most potential units were placed on hold through durational adjustments because the township lacks public water and sewer infrastructure necessary for inclusionary development. Caldwell said programs that produced potential credits in the third round included accessory apartments, market-to-affordable conversions and supportive-housing projects; she cited one group home created for Willow Glen Academy and one market-to-affordable unit created through Habitat for Humanity.

Caldwell said the township carries 94 durationally adjusted units into the fourth round and that a proposed rehabilitation program would address a present-need of four units, bringing the present-need/new-construction obligation figure discussed in the plan to 249 units. She described funding sources: a Development Trust Fund would be financed by development fees set in the plan (2.5% for commercial projects and 1.5% for new residential construction) and could be used to support accessory-apartment and supportive-housing programs as projects occur.

Caldwell also told the board that the current durational adjustment total is 343 units, a higher number driven in part by a package sewage treatment plant at Tranquil Valley that expands the plan's theoretical service area even though it serves only a few buildings. "These zones are not proposed at this time," she said, adding that a durationally adjusted zone would only "kick in" if public water and sewer became available.

Vice Chairman Rick Wilson asked whether RCA credits could still be used; Caldwell said RCAs have been eliminated and the ordinance referencing them will likely need updating. Mrs. Jenny Kobilinski asked whether the existing and future service areas differ; Caldwell said the plan treats them as the same in the relevant table. Mr. Sam Diaz asked what would happen if none of the proposed units were ever built; Caldwell said that without updated plan provisions the township could not charge the development fees.

There were no public comments.

A motion to adopt the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan was made by Mrs. Jenny Kobilinski and seconded by Mr. John Lynch. Roll-call for the adoption recorded the following votes: Robert Cahill — Aye; Sam Diaz — Aye; Jim DeYoung — Aye; Kate Douglass — Aye; Jenny Kobilinski — Aye; John Lynch — Aye; Margaret Phillips — Aye; Timothy Smith — Aye; Rick Wilson — Aye. The motion carried unanimously.

A subsequent motion to memorialize the adoption was made by Mr. Jim DeYoung and seconded by Mr. Sam Diaz; the same nine members voted Aye and the motion carried.

Board Secretary Kimberlee Mantz announced that an application is scheduled for the July 10 meeting; Board Engineer David Brady gave a brief summary, saying the July 10 application concerns the NJ Conference and renting certain areas of the property to other nonprofit organizations. The meeting was adjourned at 7:28 p.m. after a motion by Mrs. Margaret Phillips, seconded by Ms. Kate Douglass, which carried unanimously.

What happens next: the board approved the plan and memorialized the adoption; the planner will update the plan table to correct the RCA credit entry and the township will retain the durational adjustments until infrastructure changes allow inclusionary development.