Master Plan / Housing Element and Fair Share Plan

Affordable housing has been a hot button issue in the State of New Jersey since 1975 when the New Jersey Supreme Court decision (Southern Burlington County N.A.A.C.P. v. Mount Laurel Township, otherwise known as Mount Laurel 1) outlawed the use of zoning tools to prevent low- and moderate-income households from municipalities, also known as exclusionary zoning. In 1983, the New Jersey Supreme Court further defined the affordable housing need in New Jersey in a decision, known as Mount Laurel 2, which created the basis for legislating affordable housing. In 1985, the Fair Housing Act was adopted by the State of New Jersey which created the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) as the administrative agency to oversee municipal affordable housing activities.

New Jersey has created a top-down affordable housing approach in which the State calculates each municipality's fair share obligation for affordable housing. These numbers have been revised three times, and each time municipalities have been required to adopt housing plans that address their local need. These are general referred to as the First Round (1986-1992), Second Round (1993 - 1999) and Third Round plans (2000 - 2025). New Jersey's affordable housing regulations, which are summarized in a recent NY Times article, have led to construction of more than 70,000 affordable housing units.

On March 20, 2024, Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law a new framework intended to guide towns toward meeting their fourth-round affordable housing obligations under the state's Mt. Laurel doctrine. This law officially abolishes the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing and streamlines the process for future rounds. It also establishes a new methodology for calculating regional and municipal affordable housing obligations and provides updates to affordability controls, trust fund regulations and enhanced reporting.

The Department of Planning and Community Development provided an overview of the new affordable housing regulations to the Township Council on July 30, 2024.

Housing Plan Presentation_2024-07-30(PDF, 2MB)

Graduate students from the Bloustein School at Rutgers University participated in a Community Development Studio where they worked with the Montclair Township Housing Commission and other stakeholders in Montclair Township to assess the state of affordable housing and housing policies in the town. This information will be used by the Township in preparation for a new Housing Element and Fair Share Plan which is to be completed by July 1, 2025. Links to the presentation and the final report are provided below.

Affordable Housing in Montclair presentation(PDF, 2MB)

Affordable-Housing-in-Montclair_final-report.pdf(PDF, 10MB)