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HOLMDEL — The Township Committee voted to comply with the state’s affordable housing obligations Thursday night, but challenged the number of affordable homes required over the next decade, saying the state assigned Holmdel 35 units more than it should have. 

“By at least moving forward, adopting this resolution, (Holmdel) will retain immunity from builder’s remedy litigation, which is something the township wants to do,” said Andy Bayer, the township’s lawyer for affordable housing.

Under a builder’s remedy lawsuit, a builder who has plans to include affordable homes can get a court to force the town to allow construction it might not otherwise permit, if the town has not adopted an affordable housing plan.

“So, this way you control planning and zoning,” Bayer said. “And a builder/property owner can’t sue us and have their property rezoned for something that’s not intended for it.”

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The income range to qualify for affordable housing in New Jersey varies by region. In Monmouth, which is located in Region 4, the income range is between $27,311 to $171,671, depending on family size.  

Despite the unanimous vote, the resolution came with a statement that the approval came “under protest,” meaning that the committee did not fully agree with the requirements of New Jersey’s affordable housing law. The township’s attorney, Michael Collins noted that the township is still involved with a lawsuit that involves 27 municipalities, challenging the state’s affordable housing law. A decision to dismiss the case was rescheduled from Jan. 31 to May 9. 

While the state’s Department of Community Affairs calculated Holmdel’s obligation as a prospective need of 133 units over the next 10 years, the township argued that the prospective need should be reduced to 98 units. 

You can see a chart at the end of this story that shows what the state says each town owes in affordable housing units.

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Holmdel agreed with the Department of Community Affairs calculation for 129 present need units, which are reserved for existing units that need to be rehabilitated. 

“Those are not new units. Those are units that could be characterized as not meeting all code standards,” Bayer said. “So, homeowners would be able to apply through the township for a loan or a grant to bring their home up to code.”

Bayer said those repairs would be paid from the township’s affordable housing trust fund. 

On the other hand, prospective need units would result in the building of new housing. 

In a memo prepared by the planning firm Kyle + McManus Associates for the township, the firm argued that the township actually has only 1.23 acres of developable land. The largest plot of land it considered developable was 0.98 acres and it is located at 33 South Beers St. 

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The number of affordable units that a township is obligated to provide is determined by population growth, demographics, income, the value of nonresidential properties and the “land capacity factor.” 

Land capacity factor looks at developable land, and was reduced from 0.76% to 0.01% of the township by the planning firm. With this decrease, the firm argued that Holmdel’s obligation to construct new affordable housing units should be reduced from 133 to 98 units. 

“That is significant because that’s the affordable housing unit obligation,” Bayer said. 

The most common type of affordable housing has been the building of apartment complexes in which only 20% of apartments are set aside for affordable housing. The other 80% are often market-rate units. 

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“By at least starting out and by reducing the obligation by 35 units, that is reducing the total number of potential obligations by 150 units,” Bayer said, adding that the township is looking to apply for a vacant land adjustment. Such an adjustment would allow the township to argue that it does not have enough suitable land for the development of apartment buildings, which would further lower the township’s affordable housing obligation. 

Kendra Lelie, who wrote the planning memo, said the next step included waiting for the state to agree or disagree with the township’s assessment and then putting together a Housing Element and Fair Share Plan. That plan would outline what land would be rezoned to allow for affordable housing.

Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.