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Affordable housing: How government is addressing the housing shortage
If you are looking for affordable housing, here are some resources to help in New Jersey.
- Ridgewood has constructed three affordable housing projects on East Ridgewood Avenue, Broad Street and Chestnut Street.
RIDGEWOOD — The village contends it has to build four fourth-round affordable housing units, not the 427 assigned to it by the state Department of Community Affairs.
Furthermore, the village said those four units are already covered by surplus credits accumulated from previous projects.
The village is the latest in a series of Bergen County municipalities that have submitted mandatory affordable housing plans by June 30 that contend they need to build only a small percentage of the units the state assigned to them in October 2024.
As in the case of several municipalities, the village’s 67-page plan proposes applying a “vacant land adjustment” or VLA, allowing it to set aside 75% or 325 of the new units.
VLA is a process in which towns can show their available land for affordable housing development is limited, helping them to reduce their obligations.
The village ranked seventh for the number of new affordable housing units assigned to Bergen County municipalities with 427. Paramus was assigned 1,000 units, Mahwah 629, Ramsey 503, Franklin Lakes 497, Carlstadt 486 and Teaneck 431.
Each municipality had to submit a plan designating where those units could be built by June 30 or lose its immunity from so-called “builder’s remedy” lawsuits that would allow a developer to build four market-rate units for every affordable housing unit.
“The Village’s vacant land adjustment means 106 units, or 25% of the fourth round unmet need, must be addressed through the identification of parcels likely to redevelop over the next 10 years under the Realistic Zoning Requirement that is applicable only to the fourth round,” said Village Planner Beth McManus.
Under the village’s plan, those “likely to redevelop” parcels include:
- Kensington Assisted Living, 61, 65, 75 N. Maple Ave.: About 12 of the 125 beds on 1.25 acres at the corner of North Maple, Franklin Avenue and Marshall Street.
- Chestnut Street rezoning: 25 units or 20% of 126 units planned on a 4.2-acre segment of Chestnut Street, including 176 Chestnut St.
- 299 Goffle Road rezoning: four units or 20% of 21.06 units proposed for a new townhouse overlay district permitting 13 units per acre on a 1.67-acre, single-family property.
- Downtown B-1 & B-2 zoning adjustment: 102 affordable units as a result of adjusting density on 78.25 acres from 18 to 20 units per acre with a 20% set-aside for rental and sale affordable homes, up from 15% for rental homes.
Together, these sites total 143 affordable units, 37 more than required.
“The realistic development potential is satisfied with affordable units that already exist in the Village,” McManus added.
The report contends the village’s fourth-round, four-unit requirement has been satisfied by credits left over from three previously constructed affordable projects:
- The Enclave, 257 E. Ridgewood Ave. inclusionary special needs housing (one credit);
- Ridgewood Dayton, 150 S. Broad St. inclusionary family rental (eight credits);
- Chestnut Village, 150-174 Chestnut St. inclusionary family rental (seven credits).
Of the 16 credits, 12 are left as surplus after subtracting the four needed in the fourth round.
Developers and other interested parties have until Aug. 31 to file challenges to any municipality’s plan. If questioned, the municipality and challengers have until Dec. 31 to reach an agreement through a mediator.
The village’s plan can be viewed on its website, ridgewoodnj.net, and search for “2025 Fourth Round Housing Plan.“
