COAH formed to provide affordable housing mandated by high court

The acronym COAH stands for "Council on Affordable Housing." After passing the Fair Housing Act in 1985, the New Jersey Legislature established the council as a means to avoid the kinds of lawsuits that triggered the legislation in the first place. Here's the story. In the early 1970s, a group of Mount Laurel residents and others sued the township, charging it with having "exclusionary zoning" that precluded the building of affordable housing. The N.J. Supreme Court court ruled in favor of the litigants, saying that Mount Laurel's zoning was contrary to the "general welfare" requirements of the New Jersey state constitution. The court also ruled that all growing New Jersey municipalities had a legal duty to supply their fair share of affordable housing. But the court did not say how the municipalities were to set about meeting this legal responsibility. Later litigants accused Mount Laurel of making only "grudging and microscopic" changes to its zoning, and a flurry of lawsuits were filed against the township and other New Jersey municipalities. In 1983, six cases were consolidated on appeal in South Burlington County as NAACP v. Township of Mount Laurel (also known as Mount Laurel II.) The state Supreme Court upheld its 1975 ruling, and also ordered municipalities to ensure the development of affordable housing. The state legislature formalized the requirements with passage of the 1985 Fair Housing Act, which triggered formation of COAH. COAH doesn't enforce the law; it is an administrative and regulatory organization only. To help municipalities devise effective means to meet their obligation, COAH has established standards that municipalities must use to estimate their fair share of low-income housing. The estimates are founded on demographic studies and projections of future growth. COAH's third round of rules went into effect last Dec. 20. The first round covered the period 1987-93, and the second 1994-99. The major difference between the new regulations and the previous rules is that it is up to municipalities, and not COAH, to discern their affordable-housing obligation. Under the new rules, one "affordable" unit must be provided for every eight "market units" for residential units, and one for every 25 "jobs" created by commercial development. The number of jobs theoretically created is governed by the square footage and the use of the commercial building. "This is a significant change from past COAH methodology in which a number was assigned based on complicated formulas and other variables. This method is far simpler, a ‘build as you grow' approach that is more accommodating for good planning," said the NJ League of Municipalities on its Web site. Municipalities may levy fees on developers of residential and commercial property to establish a fund that can be used in various ways to support the building of new or the renovation of old low-cost housing. Among the means a municipality may use to fulfill its COAH obligations are regional contribution agreements (RCA), which allow municipalities to transfer up to 50 percent of their fair-share housing requirement to other municipalities. Other methods include providing "alternative living arrangements," such as facilities for the homeless, residential health care facilities, and group homes for the disabled and mentally ill. Also acceptable are assisted living facilities, apartments, and ECHO (elder cottage housing) opportunities units. A buy-down program also is an option. In such a program, a municipality may subsidize the cost of a for-sale unit for a low- or moderate-income buyer. COAH specifies the maximum number of each kind of housing a municipality may use. Municipalities must priodically report their progress toward the requirements to COAH.