Millburn Seeks To Reverse Affordable Housing Law in New Jersey

Millburn is now the ninth town in New Jersey to try to retract New Jersey’s Affordable Housing law.

On Monday, September 9, Millburn and eight other towns, including Denville, Florham Park, Hillsdale, Mannigton, Montvale, Montville, Old Tappan and Totowa filed a lawsuit against the state of New Jersey, seeking to repeal the state law. The Affordable Housing law went into effect in 2023, requiring each town and city to construct a specified number of affordable housing units determined by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

Several New Jersey towns have endorsed the law, mentioning the importance in providing equitable housing conditions for all state residents. Towns to support the state law include Newark in Essex County.

The Fair Share Housing Center expressed its disapproval of the lawsuit, calling it a “smokescreen” and predicting that the case would not be considered for court. Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali maintained his support of his town’s decision to file the lawsuit, citing the difficulties of accommodating other towns and municipalities that have larger populations.

Ghassali is the leader of the “Local Leaders for Responsible Planning” coalition, and together, the towns composed a list of 62 urban centers in the state that are “unfairly” asking neighboring towns for assistance. The lawsuit will also tackle concerns related to the dispute process that the law describes because it removes power from elected officials, as claimed by the members of the coalition.

More information regarding the lawsuit and potential court hearing will be released as officials discuss the implications of the towns’ efforts to reverse the Affordable Housing law.