201-768-1700
85 Harriot Avenue
Harrington Park, NJ 07640
RESOLUTION # 2025-52 RESOLUTION OF THE BOROUGH OF HARRINGTON PARK, COUNTY OF BERGEN, STATE OF NEW JERSEY COMMITTING TO ROUND 4 PRESENT AND PROSPECTIVE NEED AFFORDABLE HOUSING OBLIGATIONS
WHEREAS, the Borough of Harrington Park, County of Bergen, State of New Jersey, (hereinafter, “Harrington Park”) has a demonstrated history of voluntary compliance with its constitutional affordable housing obligations; and
WHEREAS, on March 20, 2024, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law P.L. 2024, c.2, an Amendment to the 1985 Fair Housing Act (hereinafter “Amended FHA” or “Act”); and
WHEREAS, the Amended FHA requires the Department of Community Affairs (“DCA”) to provide an estimate of the fair share affordable housing obligations of all municipalities on or before October 20, 2024 based upon the criteria on the Amended FHA; and
WHEREAS, the DCA issued a report on October 18, 2024 (“DCA Report”) wherein it reported its estimate of the fair share affordable housing obligation for all municipalities based upon its interpretation of the standards in the Act; and
WHEREAS, the DCA Report calculates Harrington Park’s Round 4 (2025-2035) fair share affordable housing obligations as follows: a Present Need (Rehabilitation) Obligation of 0 and a Prospective Need (New Construction) Obligation of 2025; and
WHEREAS, the Amended FHA provides that the DCA Report is non-binding, thereby inviting municipalities to demonstrate that the Amended FHA would support revised calculations of Round 4 fair share affordable housing obligations; and
WHEREAS, the Amended FHA gives municipalities the opportunity to propose a different fair share affordable housing obligation from those reported by the DCA on October 18, 2024 based upon the standards in Sections 6 and 7 of the Act; and
WHEREAS, the Amended FHA further provides that “[a]ll parties shall be entitled to rely upon regulations on municipal credits, adjustments, and compliance mechanisms adopted by the Council on Affordable Housing (“COAH”) unless those regulations are contradicted by statute, including the Act, or binding court decisions” (N.J.S.A 52:27D-311 (m)); and
WHEREAS, COAH regulations empower municipalities to secure vacant land adjustments, durational adjustments and other adjustments; and
WHEREAS, Harrington Park has accepted the Present Need (Rehabilitation) Obligation of 0 as reported by the DCA in its October 18, 2024 Report; and
WHEREAS, Harrington Park has exercised its right to demonstrate that the data, when correctly applied, supports a lower Round 4 Prospective Need obligation than that reported by the DCA on October 18, 2024; and
WHEREAS, more specifically, Harrington Park maintains that its Round 4 prospective need number is 131 units based upon its examination of the data used to calculate each of the three (3) allocation factors; and
WHEREAS, as to the Equalized Nonresidential Allocation Factor, Harrington Park has examined the data the DCA used to establish this factor and concluded that DCA has accurately calculated this Factor ; and
WHEREAS, as to the Income Capacity Allocation Factor, Harrington Park has examined the data the DCA used to establish this factor and concluded that the DCA has accurately calculated this Factor; and
WHEREAS, as to the Land Capacity Allocation Factor, Harrington Park notes that the DCA belatedly provided the data it used to establish this factor, i.e., on or about November 27, 2024 instead of by October 20, 2024; and
WHEREAS, Harrington Park further notes that the link to the DCA GIS data that the DCA belatedly made available to municipalities includes the following language:
"The land areas identified in this dataset are based on an the best available data using publicly available data enumerated in N.J.S.A. 52:27D-304.3c.(4) to estimate the area of developable land, within municipal and regional boundaries, that may accommodate development. It is important to note that the identified areas could be over or under inclusive depending on various conditions and that municipalities are permitted to provide more detailed mappings as part of their participation in the Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program." (emphasis added); and
WHEREAS, Harrington Park maintains that the areas the DCA identified as developable are indeed overinclusive and, consequently, its Professional Planner has prepared a report, attached hereto as Exhibit A, showing the lands that Harrington Park contends should be removed from the inventory of sites used to fashion the Land Capacity Allocation Factor; and
WHEREAS, it is therefore important that Harrington Park not commit to an incorrect obligation; and
WHEREAS, correcting the allocation factors results in Harrington Park’s Round 4 Prospective Need Obligation being 131 units rather than the obligation established by DCA; and
WHEREAS, the Amended FHA provides that: “the municipality’s determination of its fair share obligation shall have a presumption of validity, if established in accordance with sections 6 and 7” of the Act; and
WHEREAS, Harrington Park’s calculation of need is entitled to a “presumption of validity” because it complies with Sections 6 and 7 of the Act; and
WHEREAS, the process established by the Amended FHA creates an opportunity to object by interested parties opposing the obligations to which a municipality commits, thereby creating the potential for litigation over the obligations of the municipality; and
WHEREAS, Harrington Park is entitled to a vacant land adjustment in Round 4 that will be included in the HEFSP it submits by the June 30, 2025 deadline; and
WHEREAS, the Amended FHA requires municipalities to adopt a binding resolution no later than January 31, 2025 as to its obligations; and
WHEREAS, in light of the above, Harrington Park finds that it is in its best interest to declare its obligations in accordance with this binding resolution in accordance with the Act; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the above, the Director issued Directive #14-24, dated December 13, 2024, and made the Directive available later in the week that followed; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Directive #14-24, a municipality seeking compliance certification with the Act shall file an action in the form of a declaratory judgment complaint within 48 hours after adoption of the municipal resolution of fair share obligations, or by February 3, 2025, whichever is sooner; and
WHEREAS, Harrington Park seeks a compliance certification with the Act and, therefore, directs its Affordable Housing Counsel to file a declaratory relief action within 48 hours of the adoption of this resolution.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED on this 30th day of January, 2025 by the Governing Body of the Borough of Harrington Park, County of Bergen, State of New Jersey, as follows:
1. The preamble of this resolution is incorporated into the operative clauses of this resolution as if set forth in full.
2. For the reasons set forth in this resolution and its attachments, Harrington Park commits to a Round 4 Present Need (Rehabilitation) Obligation of 0 and a Round 4 Prospective Need (New Construction) obligation of 131 units, as set forth in the Exhibit(s) to this Resolution, subject to all reservations of all rights, which specifically include, without limitation, the following:
3. Harrington Park hereby directs its Affordable Housing Counsel to file a declaratory judgment complaint in the appropriate venue within 48 hours after adoption of this resolution attaching this resolution.
4. Harrington Park hereby authorizes its Affordable Housing Counsel to file this resolution with the Program or any other such entity as may be determined to be appropriate.
5. This resolution shall take effect immediately, according to law.
CERTIFICATION
The undersigned, Municipal Clerk for the Borough of Harrington Park, County of Bergen, State of New Jersey, hereby certifies the foregoing to be a true copy of a Resolution adopted by the Governing Body of the Borough of Harrington Park on January 30, 2025.
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MOTION |
SECOND |
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Roll Call Vote |
YES |
NO |
ABSTAIN |
ABSENT |
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NAPOLITANO (AN) |
X |
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EVANELLA (GE) |
X |
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BLACKINTON(WB) |
X |
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WALKER (DW) |
X |
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PEDERSEN (JP) |
X |
X |
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LANDER (LL) |
X |
X |
I hereby certify the above resolution was passed by the Mayor & Council of the Borough of Harrington Park at the meeting held on January 30, 2025.
_________________________
Leena Abaza, RMC, CMC, CMR
Borough Clerk