Affordable Housing Decision

Trishka Waterbury Cecil recently represented the town of Princeton before the Appellate Division of the Superior Court is New Jersey

In Avalon Princeton, LLC v. Princeton, 2017 WL 2544792 (App. Div. June 13, 2017), the Appellate Division held that under the plain language of the Uniform Housing and Affordability Controls (UHAC), N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.11(a), the affordability restrictions on low- and moderate-income affordable housing rental units must remain in place for at least thirty years, and must continue to remain in place until the municipality elects to release the units. The court further held that the municipal election to release the units must be made after the expiration of the initial thirty-year period, not before, and must be made by ordinance. The court held that the regulation in question preempts any local ordinance or language in a developer’s agreement to the contrary, and concluded that Princeton acted properly when it rejected Avalon’s attempt to record a deed restriction on the affordable units in its development pursuant to which the restrictions would have expired automatically at the conclusion of the initial thirty-year period.

A copy of the decision can be downloaded for free from Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13385101032910667269).