RELEASE: New Jersey Mayors Form Coalition and Launch Lawsuit to Protect Local Communities from Overreaching Housing Mandates

Release: New Jersey Mayors Form Coalition and Launch Lawsuit to Protect Local Communities from Overreaching Housing Mandates

“Local Leaders for Responsible Planning” is led by Montvale (Bergen) and includes the following municipalities that have joined as Plaintiffs to the litigation: Township of Denville, Borough of Florham Park, Borough of Hillsdale, Township of Mannington, Township of Millburn, Township of Montville, Borough of Old Tappan, and Borough of Totowa.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Montvale, NJ — Today, a bipartisan group of New Jersey mayors and local leaders, led by Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali, have taken a united stand by filing a lawsuit against the recently enacted housing law, P.L. 2024, c. 2. This legal action is brought by members of the newly-formed Local Leaders for Responsible Planning (“LLRP”) coalition, and it seeks to ensure that municipalities retain the ability to protect their communities and plan responsibly for future growth.

“This is about standing up for all New Jersey communities,” said Ghassali. “We all want safe, welcoming, and vibrant neighborhoods, but the new Fourth Round mandates from Trenton go too far and will place unnecessary strain on our towns without providing any resources to make it work. Our priority is to fight so that local elected officials have the power to ensure our towns grow in a responsible manner, which this law prevents.” The coalition, comprised of a geographically diverse set of municipalities, is challenging the new law, which imposes extensive affordable housing obligations on municipalities while failing to adequately consider local conditions and resources.

The municipalities argue that these mandates exceed what is constitutionally required under the Mount Laurel doctrine. They contend that the law follows the same approach to affordable housing that started in 1983, and that it lacks continued vitality four decades later. The coalition specifically questions the continued exemption of approximately 62 urban aid municipalities from having affordable housing obligations, with their housing needs instead imposed unfairly upon the other remaining New Jersey municipalities, including the coalition members.

“This isn’t about politics — it’s about fairness,” said Mayor Ghassali. “Whether Republican or Democrat, we all believe that communities should have a say in how they grow. Our communities lose the ability to plan for their future when they are mandated by Trenton to support the housing needs of other municipalities, often significantly larger in size, on top of our existing obligations.”

The lawsuit also challenges the new, untested Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program, which takes decisions about local housing out of the hands of elected officials and puts it in the hands of so-called experts and retired jurists that are appointed outside of the advice and consent process.

“Local leaders are the ones who know their communities best,” added Mayor Ghassali. “Handing our future over to a panel of unvetted ‘experts’ with no connection to our towns is a disservice to our residents."

Key Points of the Lawsuit:

• The new law imposes housing obligations that go beyond what is constitutionally required, which allows the Legislature to pare back the law’s mandates.
• Because the obligations exceed the Mount Laurel constitutional requirements, the new law imposes an unconstitutional unfunded local mandate on municipalities, making the law subject to invalidation by the Council on Local Mandates.
• The Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program contains an unconstitutional structure including placing affordable housing determinations in the hands of unelected officials – including so-called “experts.”

Beyond the nine initial municipalities that have joined as plaintiffs, there are sixteen total municipalities that have adopted resolutions supporting LLRP's efforts and are anticipated to join as named plaintiffs, including: Allendale (Bergen), Denville (Morris), Florham Park (Morris), Hillsdale (Bergen), Mannington (Salem), Millburn (Essex), Montvale (Bergen), Montville (Morris), Old Tappan (Bergen), Oradell (Bergen), River Vale (Bergen), Totowa (Passaic), Washington (Bergen), Westwood (Bergen), Wharton (Morris), Wyckoff (Bergen). Mayor Ghassali and the LLRP continue to collaborate with other New Jersey municipalities and expects many more to join the litigation. “I speak with fellow mayors each and every day, said Mayor Ghassali. “We look forward to welcoming new members as more towns learn about our effort and the importance of this undertaking,” said Mayor Ghassali.

The lawsuit is docketed as Borough of Montvale v. State of New Jersey, Superior Court of New Jersey, MER-L-1778-24. The Coalition is represented by Michael L. Collins, Esq. of King, Moench & Collins LLP.