New Jersey Court Strikes Down Town’s Use of Eminent Domain To Skirt Affordable Housing Mandates
A New Jersey town’s attempt to bypass the state’s affordable housing mandate has hit a roadblock. On June 27, the New Jersey Superior Court upheld a trial court ruling preventing Middletown Township from using eminent domain to seize a 52-acre property that previously housed a Circus Liquor Store and turn it into a commercial development for “recreational use.” Middletown is now taking the case to the state Supreme Court.Â
In the summer of 2023, AAMHMT Property, LLC, purchased the property and filed a “builder’s remedy” lawsuit—which would have allowed it to rezone the property for higher density building—alleging that the township violated its affordable housing obligations as required by state law, reports Patch News. Under the Mount Laurel doctrine, New Jersey municipalities are required to build their “fair share” of affordable housing and submit a plan for meeting these obligations to the Fair Share Housing Center (FSHC) for review.Â
Middletown withdrew from the state’s affordable housing obligations, which current Mayor Tony Perry has called “unreasonable,” in 2019, according to The Twin River Times. Ariela Rutbeck-Goldman, a senior staff attorney at the FSHC who argued the case before the court, tells Reason that since Middletown has opted out of the housing mandate, they are “not immune from these sorts of builders’ remedy cases.”Â
AAMHMT had proposed building a 937-unit residential complex on the property, including apartments, townhomes, and affordable housing units. The township said this plan conflicts with their redevelopment agreement with the previous owners, the Azzolina family, and their plans for the property. Middletown claims that only half the property is zoned for residential use and is already under construction for 400 units, 80 of which are affordable. The other half is restricted to commercial or public use.
After the lawsuit was filed, the Township Committee voted to condemn the property and designate it as an “area in need of redevelopment,” which would allow them to acquire the property via eminent domain for fair
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