BRAMNICK DISCUSSES AFFORDABLE HOUSING REGULATIONS IN CABLEVISION APPEARANCE

In a recent appearance as a guest on Cablevision’s “We’ve Got Issues” program, Assemblyman Jon Bramnick discussed his views on the recent Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) regulations approved by the Legislature which he said will have a devastating impact on municipalities and property taxpayers.

Bramnick was joined on the program by Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman, a supporter of the new regulations, and Bramnick raised concerns about several issues including how COAH determined how many units of affordable housing should be built and where.

“It has been reported that COAH used out-dated aerial images to determine affordable housing obligations, counting backyards, school fields, preserved farmland and even the grass median of the Garden State Parkway as open space that can be developed,” Bramnick pointed out. “Many towns lacking developable land will receive affordable housing requirements based on this flawed methodology and it will result in devastating consequences for those towns and their taxpayers.”

Bramnick also addressed the 2.5 percent tax that will be implemented on all commercial development under the new law.

“This new tax on commercial development will have a negative effect on the development of businesses in the state at a time when our economy is struggling,” Bramnick said. “We need to be encouraging economic growth and new jobs for New Jersey, but these regulations will do just the opposite.”

The new COAH regulations also prohibited Regional Contribution Agreements (RCA), which gave urban areas the opportunity to redevelop existing properties.

Bramnick pointed out that this is not exclusively a partisan issue. The president of the League of Municipalities, Democratic Mayor Robert Bowser of East Orange, has filed an appeal with the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey regarding the regulations adopted by the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing.

  The television program will air on Cablevision’s local public affairs show which can be seen throughout the state on local programming channels. For more information on the show or other topics, please contact the Legislative Office at (908) 232-2073.  

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