Monday, September 30, 2013

A Historic Fair Housing Decision Reaffirmed - NYTimes.com

Governor Christie wants to get rid of the affordable housing obligations in the suburbs.  
The decision is In Re Council on Affordable Housing, September 27, 2013.  Over the dissent of Helen Hoens and Anne Paterson the court rejected the regulations which enabled each town to set its own limits on affordable housing, rather than  use a regional norm. - GWC
A Historic Fair Housing Decision Reaffirmed - NYTimes.com:

by the New York Times Editorial Board
"The New Jersey Supreme Court has wisely rejected an attempt by Gov. Chris Christie to undermine its 30-year-old-ruling in the Mount Laurel fair housing case, one of the more important civil rights decisions of the modern era. In last week’s strongly worded decision, the court made clear that it would be keeping a close eye on both the Christie administration and wealthy communities that might be inclined to flout the law, which limits the use of exclusionary zoning as a means of preventing the construction of affordable housing."***
The central issue in last week’s ruling was Mr. Christie’s effort to interpret the “fair share” mandate in a way that would essentially allow communities to decide for themselves how much affordable housing should be built. This, in turn, would give hostile communities license to block affordable housing.
Confronted with this threat, the court asserted that it had a clear duty to enforce the rights of low-income citizens under the State Constitution. In so doing, it served notice that it would brook no more foot-dragging on the part of the state."

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