Council on Affordable Housing
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1985 |
| Jurisdiction | New Jersey |
| Headquarters | 101 South Broad Street, Trenton, NJ 08625 |
| Agency executives |
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| Parent agency | New Jersey Department of Community Affairs |
| Website | http://www.state.nj.us/dca/affiliates/coah/ |
The Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) is a defunct agency of the Government of New Jersey within the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs that was responsible for ensuring that all 566 New Jersey municipalities provided their fair share of low and moderate income housing.
The COAH was created by the New Jersey Legislature in response to the Fair Housing Act of 1985 and a series of New Jersey Supreme Court rulings known as the Mount Laurel doctrine.
The council is made up of 12 members appointed by the Governor of New Jersey and approved by the New Jersey Senate. COAH defines housing regions, estimates the needs for low/moderate income housing, allocates fair share numbers by municipality and reviews plans to fulfill these obligations.
As of January 2006, 287 of New Jersey's 566 municipalities are part of the COAH process, and another 78 are or were under the court's jurisdiction. There are at least two COAH municipalities in each of the state's 21 counties. Bergen County has 42 of its 70 municipalities involved, the highest number in the state, with Morris County's 29 municipalities ranking second.
Municipalities originally were allowed to enter into a Regional Contribution Agreement (RCA), which allows them to pay a fee to another municipality that agrees to provide affordable housing units to fulfill up to half of the sending municipality's COAH obligations. The sending municipality must pay a negotiated fee for each unit transferred. For example, Marlboro Township signed an agreement in June 2008 that will have Trenton build or rehabilitate 332 housing units (out of Marlboro's 1,600-unit obligation), with Marlboro paying $25,000 per unit, a total of $8.3 million to Trenton for taking on the responsibility for these units.
RCAs were suppressed by the latest amendment to the state's housing laws on July 17, 2008
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