New Jersey § 52:27d-307

§ 52:27d-307.

It shall be the duty of the council, seven months after the confirmation of the last

member initially appointed to the council, or January 1, 1986, whichever is earlier,

and from time to time thereafter, to: a. Determine housing regions of the State; b. Estimate the present and prospective need for low and moderate income housing at

the State and regional levels; c. Adopt criteria and guidelines for: (1) Municipal determination of its present and prospective fair share of the housing

need in a given region which shall be computed for a 10-year period. Municipal fair share shall be determined after crediting on a one-to-one basis each

current unit of low and moderate income housing of adequate standard, including any

such housing constructed or acquired as part of a housing program specifically intended

to provide housing for low and moderate income households. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a municipality shall be entitled

to a credit for a unit if it demonstrates that (a) the municipality issued a certificate

of occupancy for the unit, which was either newly constructed or rehabilitated between

April 1, 1980 and December 15, 1986; (b) a construction code official certifies,

based upon a visual exterior survey, that the unit is in compliance with pertinent

construction code standards with respect to structural elements, roofing, siding,

doors and windows; (c) the household occupying the unit certifies in writing, under

penalty of perjury, that it receives no greater income than that established pursuant

to section 4 of P.L.1985, c. 222 ( C.52:27D-304 ) to qualify for moderate income housing; and (d) the unit for which credit is sought

is affordable to low and moderate income households under the standards established

by the council at the time of filing of the petition for substantive certification. It shall be sufficient if the certification required in subparagraph (c) is signed

by one member of the household. A certification submitted pursuant to this paragraph shall be reviewable only by

the council or its staff and shall not be a public record; Nothing in P.L.1995, c. 81 shall affect the validity of substantive certification granted by the council prior

to November 21, 1994, or of a judgment of compliance entered by any court of competent jurisdiction prior to

that date. Additionally, any municipality that received substantive certification or a judgment

of compliance prior to November 21, 1994 and filed a motion prior to November 21,

1994 to amend substantive certification or a judgment of compliance for the purpose

of obtaining credits, shall be entitled to a determination of its right to credits

pursuant to the standards established by the Legislature prior to P.L.1995, c. 81 . Any municipality that filed a motion prior to November 21, 1994 for the purpose

of obtaining credits, which motion was supported by the results of a completed survey

performed pursuant to council rules, shall be entitled to a determination of its right

to credits pursuant to the standards established by the Legislature prior to P.L.1995, c. 81 ; (2) Municipal adjustment of the present and prospective fair share based upon available

vacant and developable land, infrastructure considerations or environmental or historic

preservation factors and adjustments shall be made whenever: (a) The preservation of historically or important architecture and sites and their

environs or environmentally sensitive lands may be jeopardized, (b) The established pattern of development in the community would be drastically altered, (c) Adequate land for recreational, conservation or agricultural and farmland preservation

purposes would not be provided, (d) Adequate open space would not be provided, (e) The pattern of development is contrary to the planning designations in the State

Development and Redevelopment Plan prepared pursuant to sections 1 through 12 of P.L.1985,

c. 398 ( C.52:18A-196 et seq. ), (f) Vacant and developable land is not available in the municipality, and (g) Adequate public facilities and infrastructure capacities are not available, or

would result in costs prohibitive to the public if provided. (3) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1993, c. 31 ). d. Provide population and household projections for the State and housing regions; e. In its discretion, place a limit, based on a percentage of existing housing stock

in a municipality and any other criteria including employment opportunities which

the council deems appropriate, upon the aggregate number of units which may be allocated

to a municipality as its fair share of the region's present and prospective need for

low and moderate income housing. No municipality shall be required to address a fair share of housing units affordable to households with a gross household income of less than

80% of the median gross household income beyond 1,000 units within ten years from the grant of substantive certification,

unless it is demonstrated, following objection by an interested party and an evidentiary

hearing, based upon the facts and circumstances of the affected municipality that

it is likely that the municipality through its zoning powers could create a realistic

opportunity for more than 1,000 low and moderate income units within that ten-year

period. For the purposes of this section, the facts and circumstances which shall determine

whether a municipality's fair share shall exceed 1,000 units, as provided above, shall

be a finding that the municipality has issued more than 5,000 certificates of occupancy

for residential units in the ten-year period preceding the petition for substantive

certification in connection with which the objection was filed. For the purpose of crediting low and moderate income housing units in order to arrive

at a determination of present and prospective fair share, as set forth in paragraph

(1) of subsection c. of this section, housing units comprised in a community residence

for the developmentally disabled, as defined in section 2 of P.L.1977, c. 448 ( C.30:11B-2 ), shall be fully credited pursuant to rules promulgated or to be promulgated by the

council, to the extent that the units are affordable to persons of low and moderate

income and are available to the general public. The council, with respect to any municipality seeking substantive certification, shall

require that a minimum percentage of housing units in any residential development

resulting from a zoning change made to a previously non-residentially-zoned property,

where the change in zoning precedes or follows the application for residential development

by no more than 24 months, be reserved for occupancy by low or moderate income households,

which percentage shall be determined by the council based on economic feasibility

with consideration for the proposed density of development. In carrying out the above duties, including, but not limited to, present and prospective

need estimations the council shall give appropriate weight to pertinent research studies,

government reports, decisions of other branches of government, implementation of the

State Development and Redevelopment Plan prepared pursuant to sections 1 through 12

of P.L.1985, c. 398 ( C.52:18A-196 et seq. ) and public comment. To assist the council, the State Planning Commission established under that act

shall provide the council annually with economic growth, development and decline projections

for each housing region for the next ten years. The council shall develop procedures for periodically adjusting regional need based

upon the low and moderate income housing that is provided in the region through any

federal, State, municipal or private housing program. No housing unit subject to the provisions of section 5 of P.L.2005, c. 350 ( C.52:27D-123.15 ) and to the provisions of the barrier free subcode adopted by the Commissioner of

Community Affairs pursuant to the “State Uniform Construction Code Act,” P.L.1975,

c. 217 ( C.52:27D-119 et seq. ) shall be eligible for inclusion in the municipal fair share plan certified by the

council unless the unit complies with the requirements set forth thereunder.