2020 Amended Third Round Housing Element & Fair Share Plan February 20, 2020 Adopted March 4, 2020 Endorsed June 10, 2020 City of Lambertville, Hunterdon County, New Jersey Prepared by: Clarke Caton Hintz | 100 barrack street | trenton, nj | 08608 Amended Housing Element & Fair Share Plan City of Lambertville, Hunterdon County, New Jersey Adopted by the Planning Board on March 4, 2020. Endorsed by the City Council on June 10, 2020. Prepared for City of Lambertville by Clarke Caton Hintz: Emily R. Goldman, PP, AICP | PP License # 6088 A signed and sealed version is available at the municipal building. PLANNING BOARD Paul Kuhl, Chair John Miller, Vice Chair Julia Fahl, Mayor Elizabeth “Beth” Asaro, Council President Zac Anglin Gina Fischetti, Environmental Commission Representative Sarah Gold Filomena Hengst Kevin Romano Stephanie Moss, Alternate 1 Michelle Komie, Alternate 2 Crystal Lawton, Planning Board Secretary Timothy Korzun, Esq., Planning Board Counsel Douglas Rossino, P.E., Planning Board Engineer Helen “Bambi” T. Kuhl, Director of Public Assistance/Municipal Housing Liaison MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL Hon. Julia Fahl, Mayor Elizabeth “Beth” Asaro, Council President Wardell Sanders Julia Taylor Madeline “Maddie” Urbish Cynthia Ege, City Clerk William Opel, Esq., City Attorney Kelly Grant, Esq., Affordable Housing Attorney John Chayko, P.E., City Engineer Helen “Bambi” T. Kuhl, Director of Public Assistance/Municipal Housing Liaison Amended Third Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan and Spending Plan City of Lambertville TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... 0 Affordable Housing Judicial & Legislative Background ............................................................... 1 Affordability Requirements ........................................................................................................... 8 Housing Element & Fair Share Plan Requirements................................................................... 11 Lambertville’s Affordable Housing History ................................................................................ 12 Housing, Demographic & Employment analysis ....................................................................... 15 Consideration of Lands Appropriate for Affordable Housing ................................................... 31 Fair Share Plan .............................................................................................................................. 33 Lambertville’s Affordable Housing Obligation ........................................................................... 33 Lambertville’s Affordable Housing Plan ..................................................................................... 35 Realistic Development Potential (“RDP”) .................................................................................... 38 Unmet Need ................................................................................................................................. 46 Income distribution ......................................................................................................................61 Affordable Housing Administration & Affirmative Marketing ................................................ 63 Affordable Housing Trust Fund ................................................................................................. 64 Cost Generation ........................................................................................................................... 66 Monitoring/Status Reports .......................................................................................................... 66 Satisfaction Of Settlement Agreement Requirements .............................................................. 68 Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 69 APPENDICES TO THE HOUSING ELEMENT & FAIR SHARE PLAN 1. 2020 Settlement Agreement 10. Lambertville High School 2. Planning Board Adoption Resolution Redevelopment 3. Governing Body Endorsement 11. Lilly Street Apartment Resolution 12. Police Station Lot Redevelopment 4. Rehabilitation Documentation 13. Inclusionary Overlay Zoning 5. Vacant Land Analysis Ordinance 6. Little Haven Group Home 14. Affordable Housing Ordinance 7. Habitat for Humanity 15. Affirmative Marketing Plan 8. Heritage Village 16. Municipal Housing Liaison & Administrative Agent Documentation 9. Munice Accessory Apartment 17. Spending Plan and Intent to Fund Amended Third Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan and Spending Plan City of Lambertville EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Amended Third Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan (“HE/FSP”) has been prepared for the City of Lambertville (“City” or “Lambertville”), Hunterdon County in accordance with the New Jersey Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) at N.J.S.A. 52:27D-310, and the rules of the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing (“COAH”) at N.J.A.C. 5:93 et seq. This Plan is an amendment to the prior Third Round HE/FSP that was adopted by the Planning Board and endorsed by the City Council in November/December 2008. This amended Plan will serve as the foundation for the City’s submission to the Honorable Thomas C. Miller, P.J.Civ. for a Third Round Judgment of Compliance and Repose to July 8, 2025. There are three (3) components to a municipality’s affordable housing obligation: the Rehabilitation Share, the Prior Round Lambertville’s Affordable obligation, and the Third Round obligation. As will be discussed in Housing Obligation: detail in this Plan, Lambertville has entered into a Settlement Agreement with Fair Share Housing Center (“FSHC”) to establish • Rehabilitation the City’s Third Round affordable housing obligations. The Share: 1 unit Settlement Agreement identifies a 1-unit rehabilitation, or present • Prior Round need, obligation, a 0-unit Prior Round obligation, and a 137-unit Obligation: 0 units Third Round “gap” + prospective need obligation (1999-2025). The Settlement Agreement reflects Lambertville’s vacant land • Third Round adjustment (“VLA”), which adjusts the Third Round new Obligation: 137 units construction obligation to an 88-unit realistic development potential (“RDP”) and a 49-unit Unmet Need. The City’s initial Settlement Agreement with FSHC and the City’s preliminary compliance efforts were approved by Judge Miller at a Fairness Hearing held on September 13, 2018 as reflected in a Court Order dated October 11, 2018. Subsequently, the City and FSHC entered into an Amended Settlement Agreement on January 29, 2020. This Amended HE/FSP reflects the January 29, 2020 Amended Settlement Agreement. The City has fully satisfied the 1-unit Rehabilitation obligation with two (2) rehabilitated units. Per the Settlement Agreement, the City will address the Third Round 88-unit RDP with prior cycle credits, 100% affordable housing projects, a completed accessory apartment, a proposed inclusionary redevelopment, and rental bonus credits. The Third Round Unmet Need will be addressed by the implementation of inclusionary Overlay Zoning on three (3) sites, an inclusionary redevelopment, a five (5) unit accessory apartment program, a City-wide mandatory inclusionary housing ordinance, a City-owned affordable housing apartment, surplus Third Round credits, and an existing development fee ordinance, in accordance with N.J.AC. 5:93-4.2(h). 0 | Page Amended Third Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan and Spending Plan City of Lambertville AFFORDABLE HOUSING JUDICIAL & LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND Providing an opportunity for the construction of affordable housing within developing municipalities was found to be a constitutional obligation by the New Jersey Supreme Court in its landmark 1975 decision now referred to as Mount Laurel I. The Court found that developing municipalities have a constitutional obligation to provide a realistic opportunity for the construction of low- and moderate-income housing.1 In its 1983 Mount Laurel II decision, the Supreme Court extended the obligation to all municipalities. Subject to a number of limitations, Mount Laurel II also gave developers under appropriate circumstances the opportunity to secure a “builder’s remedy” in the event of a successful lawsuit.2 A builder’s remedy conveys to a developer, through the Courts, the right to develop what is typically a multi-family project on land that was not zoned to permit such a use or at densities desired by the developer at the time of the suit and where a “substantial” percentage of the units are reserved for low- and moderate-income households. In 1985, the Legislature enacted the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”)3 in response to Mount Laurel II. The FHA created the Council on Affordable Housing (“COAH”) as an administrative alternative to municipal compliance in a court proceeding. The Legislature conferred “primary jurisdiction” on the agency and charged COAH with promulgating regulations: (i), to establish housing regions; (ii), to estimate low- and moderate-income housing needs on a state and regional level; (iii), to set criteria and guidelines for municipalities to determine and address their fair share numbers, and (iv), to create a process for the review and approval of appropriate housing elements and fair share plans. As of 2015, COAH has been declared a moribund agency, which has forced the New Jersey Supreme Court to reactivate a judicial process in the review and