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Politics & Government

Missing Deadline For Chester Borough Has $800K Penalty

Mayor and Council have until June 30 to make the Fair Share Housing deadline.

June 30 may seem like a long way off, but it is better safe than sorry as Chester Borough risks losing over $800,000 collected from developers if they miss the state's Fair Share Housing deadline. Officials tasked David Banisch Associates to provide them with options for how to get in compliance. 

Mayor Robert Davis vowed that the town would not miss the deadline.

“Approximately $835,000 is at stake. If we don’t establish a plan to provide low-income housing by the deadline, the state could claim the funds,” Davis said.

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Out of the Fair Share Housing Act, the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) was established to assess the need for affordable housing throughout the state and determine the need for affordable housing on the municipal level.

Chester Borough has collected fees from the developers of ‘The Streets of Chester’ and new office buildings on Millbrook Road, according to Davis. That $800,000 that was collected from developers was set aside in a trust fund to be utilized to provide low-income housing options for Chester Borough residents.

Find out what's happening in Mendham-Chesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Based on previous requirements established by COAH, the borough would be required to make provisions for 53 low cost housing units, which would be a challenge for the Borough.

“53 units is a huge number for us to meet, considering we only have a total of 400 residents,” Davis said, adding that he expects that COAH will establish a new target number that the town would have to meet based on new Census data.

The Fair Share Housing Act was enacted in 1985 in direct response to the Mount Laurel Decisions by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1975 and 1983 which ruled that municipal land use regulation that prevent affordable housing opportunities for the poor are unconstitutional.

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