The New Jersey Supreme Court said the state’s affordable housing agency had failed to do its job, and effectively transferred the agency's regulatory authority to lower courts, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The ruling comes after a decade of litigation over the agency's proposed rules to determine municipalities' housing obligations for low- and moderate-income residents. The court’s unanimous decision came in response to a lawsuit by affordable-housing advocates alleging that Gov. Chris Christie’s administration had failed to meet a court-ordered deadline to issue regulations that require towns to provide for the realistic construction of affordable housing.
The court said the administrative process by which municipalities submit housing plans to the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) "has been rendered futile." Therefore, courts must step in, the justices said. The ruling may prompt extensive litigation against local communities alleged to have failed to provide their fair share of affordable housing
A Christie spokesman said the ruling was "a call to action to finally finish the job of reforming our affordable housing system so that it is no longer a costly burden to the people of New Jersey and actually encourages sound development."
Related Stories
| Jul 17, 2014
A high-rise with outdoor, vertical community space? It's possible! [slideshow]
Danish design firm C.F. Møller has developed a novel way to increase community space without compromising privacy or indoor space.
| Jul 11, 2014
First look: Jeanne Gang reinterprets San Francisco Bay windows in new skyscraper scheme
Chicago architect Jeanne Gang has designed a 40-story residential building in San Francisco that is inspired by the city's omnipresent bay windows.
| Jul 10, 2014
Unique design of Toronto's townhome The Tree House
Plans for a new Toronto townhome brings cutting-edge design.
| Jul 7, 2014
7 emerging design trends in brick buildings
From wild architectural shapes to unique color blends and pattern arrangements, these projects demonstrate the design possibilities of brick.
| Jul 7, 2014
A climate-controlled city is Dubai's newest colossal project
To add to Dubai's already impressive portfolio of world's tallest tower and world's largest natural flower garden, Dubai Holding has plans to build the world's largest climate-controlled city.
| Jul 3, 2014
Gehry edits Canadian skyscraper plan to be 'more Toronto'
After being criticized for the original tower complex, architect Frank Gehry unveils a new design that is more subtle, and "more Toronto."
| Jul 2, 2014
SHoP designs what would be Brooklyn's tallest building
JDS Development partners with SHoP to construct a 70-story building at 775-feet tall, unprecedented for downtown Brooklyn.
| Jun 30, 2014
Research finds continued growth of design-build throughout United States
New research findings indicate that for the first time more than half of projects above $10 million are being completed through design-build project delivery.
| Jun 30, 2014
Narrow San Francisco lots to be developed into micro-units
As a solution to San Francisco’s density and low housing supply compared to demand, local firms Build Inc. and Macy Architecture each are to build micro-unit housing in a small parcel of land in Hayes Valley.
| Jun 30, 2014
Harvard releases the State of the Nation’s Housing 2014
Although the housing industry saw notable increases in construction, home prices, and sales in 2013, household growth has yet to fully recover from the effects of the recession, according to a new Harvard University report.
