Bill > S2656

Introduced Session

This bill would require certain projects with 30 or more residential units to reserve 25 percent of the units for very low, low, moderate, and middle income housing. The bill establishes a schedule under which a developer would be required to complete a certain percentage of the very low, low, moderate, and middle income housing units upon the completion of a certain percentage of the market rate housing units. The municipality would be permitted to withhold the certificate of occupancy for market rate units, at any stage of development, if the requirements of this schedule are not satisfied. The developer would be permitted to develop the residential units reserved for very low, low, moderate, and middle income housing offsite of the project, provided that the units are developed within the municipality in which the project is located. Any residential unit reserved for very low, low, moderate, and middle income housing would have to continue to be so reserved for a period of at least 98 years, according to the current affordability standards. For a project that is not age-restricted, at least 30 percent of all the very low, low, moderate, and middle income housing units would have to be two bedroom units and at least another 20 percent of these units would have to be three bedroom units. Under the bill a municipality may, instead of requiring the construction of very low, low, moderate, and middle income housing units, require a developer to pay a development fee in an amount equal to 30 percent of the total project cost; provided, however, that the amount of that fee would be 25 percent of the total project cost if the project achieves a silver rating according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System as adopted by the United States Green Building Council. If such a fee is required, it would have to be paid prior to the issuance of a construction permit for the project. These fees would have to be placed into an affordable housing trust fund and spent on the development of very low, low, or moderate income housing within the municipality. Alternatively, half of these fees may be placed into an affordable housing trust fund and spent on the development of very low, low, or moderate income housing within the municipality, and the remaining half placed into a community center trust fund and spent on the development of community centers. Nothing in this bill would affect the obligation of a municipality to plan and zone to provide through its land use regulations a realistic opportunity for a fair share of its region's present and prospective needs for very low, low, and moderate income housing. Additionally, nothing in this bill would alter the obligations of a developer or municipality to comply with the terms of a court- or agency-approved agreement or fair share plan, or to prevent a municipality from creating or enforcing requirements beyond the minimum requirements established in this section. Also, the bill would not apply to a project that is identified by block and lot or other specific reference in a court- or agency-approved agreement or fair share plan. Lastly, the bill requires the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency to adopt rules and regulations effectuating the provisions of the bill on or before the first day of the fourth month next following the effective date of the bill.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Britnee Timberlake (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee (on 01/13/2026)

Official Document