New Jersey is one of only a few states which provides affordable housing for its residents. A proposed set of rules, however, stands to have an adverse effect on the affordable housing obligations of towns such as Princeton that are dominated by a large academic institution.
These types of communities do not generally abide by the stipulations made in the regulations.
The new regulations set forth by the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) seek to avoid the negative impact that unplanned growth can have on a community. Unlike previous approaches, the proposed regulations link affordable housing with municipal development and growth.
For example, one affordable housing unit must be built for every eight market-rate residential units built.
In terms of nonresidential growth, one new affordable housing unit is required for every 25 new jobs.
To estimate the rate of job creation, the proposed regulations examine the square footage for different types of nonresidential development. For example, one affordable housing unit must be built for every 8,333 sq. ft. of office space or 12,500 sq. ft. of factory space.
According to Pamela Hersh, University director of community and state affairs, these estimations do not apply well to construction at universities like Princeton.
"We have serious concerns about the validity of COAH's assumptions regarding job creation in connection with construction by academic institutions," she wrote in an email.
"Much academic construction is not intended to increase staffing, but to permit students, faculty, and staff to do better work and to accommodate modern technology, to insure that buildings measure up to evolving standards and expectations, and to keep pace with increases in knowledge," she added.
For example, the recently constructed 70,000 sq. ft. Friend Center should, according to the proposed regulations, create 210 new jobs. However, the building only has 12 full-time employees.
Jennifer Szwalek, director of communications for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, does not consider this discrepancy to be a major issue.
"There will inevitably be some distinctions between individual uses within each use-group or actual number of jobs predicted and generated, but overall these distinctions will balance out," she said.
To address these types of "overinflated projections of growth," Hersh said that "affordable housing demand for academic buildings should be based on actual full-time employment increases per new academic facility, not on sq. ft. calculations."
Hersh added the affordable housing the University has built for graduate students and staff "not only fails to qualify as affordable housing, but construction of such affordable housing also generates a mandate for more affordable housing."
The University-built housing does not meet the state requirements for affordable housing because it is not available to the general public. Nevertheless, construction of such housing is considered growth, so it brings about a requirement for more new affordable housing units.
For Derek Bridger, affordable housing coordinator for the Borough, the major problem with the proposed changes is that the regulations do not specify how municipalities should fund the new initiatives.
"[This is] a classic case of a mandate from the state with no clear delineation for how to pay for it," he added.
Given the great deal of construction currently taking place on the University campus, a large number of new affordable housing units will be required in the near future if the proposed regulations are adopted. The financial burden for this construction will fall on the Borough.
Bridger said the Borough might need to assess a fee on developers to help fund the affordable housing requirement that will result from their construction.
The University's role in assisting the Borough is still unclear. Nevertheless, Hersh said the University is dedicated to contributing.
"We will — as we always have — be supportive of the Borough and Township's efforts to fulfill their affordable housing obligations," she said.
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