The Courier - June 26, 2008

END OF THE LINE FOR RCAs
RCAs 'dead on arrival' in Trenton

By MELISSA L. GAFFNEY
Staff Writer

    In an epic vote that will cast a long shadow throughout the Garden State, the New Jersey Senate ratified a bill that will abolish Regional Contribution Agreements (RCAs).
    The state Senate voted 21-16 in favor of Bill A500 on Monday, June 23, in Trenton.
    Previously, the state Assembly adopted the bill on June 16 through a 44-34 vote, with two abstentions.
    Senators Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, and Dana Redd, D-Camden, sponsored the Senate version of the bill. Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, D-Camden, sponsored A500 in the Assembly.
    This bill will have an especially significant impact in the Bayshore, as Middletown Township is known statewide as a strong opponent of constructing affordable housing in Monmouth County's largest municipality.
    Most recently, the Middletown Township Committee unanimously adopted a resolution that urged 12th and 13th district legislators to vote against A500 because the bill would "raise property taxes."
    The committee adopted the resolution during its last public session on Monday, June 16. Middletown's governing body crafted the resolution in the wake of a builder's remedy lawsuit the town was hit with by Lakewood Township, Ocean County.
    Bill A500's primary purpose is to stem the use of RCAs throughout the state, a practice that has been a mainstay for Middletown throughout three decades and several government administrations.
    During the Senate's session, Lesniak said the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) has been a failure since its existence.
    The senator said COAH has long determined there is no affordable housing in New Jersey and imposed a "ridiculous" fee on development that does not sustain a relationship to the marketplace. "The main thrust of this bill is to undo that damage," he said. "And that's what this bill does do."
    Under A500, RCAs will no longer exist. Lesniak said the bill also allows for other remedies in· lieu of RCAs, as well as for municipalities to readdress COAH where environmental issues such as open space are concerned.
    Lesniak said such remedies included Regional Planning Associations in the Highlands, Pinelands, Meadowlands, Fort Monmouth and Atlantic City areas.
    The senator said he could not understand some urban municipalities' opposition to A500, as the bill will provide ample funds to fill the void left from the death of RCAs.
    "[Municipalities will be losing] the money they received from RCAs," Lesniak explained. "But those dollars have been, on average, $12 million a year. Those same municipalities will now be guaranteed a minimum of $20 million a year for their affordable housing."
Among those senators voicing opposition to A500 were Bill Baroni, R-Mercer; Robert Singer, R-Ocean; Steven Oroho, R-Sussex/Mount Olive; and Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen.
    "COAH has been a disaster," Lesniak said. Although admitting the bill is imperfect and in its infancy, the senator said A500 will now mandate COAH, not vice versa. "[This bill] will establish the planning and guidelines that COAH will have to follow," Lesniak said.
    While Lesniak said development would shut down in the state were the bill not passed in the Senate, Cardinale called Bill A500 a "Band-Aid on a problem that's a gaping wound."
    Cardinale said he felt the problem needed to be fixed through a constitutional amendment rather than bills and legislation that try and "outwit" the marketplace.
    Ultimately, however, Bill A500 received the Senate's stamp of approval. Its next stop is Gov. Jon Corzine's desk.
    Marlene Lao-Collins, a member of the New Jersey Regional Coalition Board of Directors, said Corzine has already committed to signing A500.
    "[The state] just needs a date," she said.
    With significant changes in affordable housing on the horizon, Lesniak said Bill A500 has something for everybody. "But it doesn't have everything for everybody," he concluded. "That's normally not obtainable."