During the Monday, January 24, meeting of the Livingston Township Council, members passed a housing ordinance that had been debated for much of 2021. The meeting was held virtually and may be viewed on the Livingston Township, NJ Facebook page.The ordinance would amend chapter 170 of the code to establish a new inclusionary development zone, designated as the “R-5L Residence Overlay District” for lots 25 and 26 in tax block 6101. The proposed ordinance had been discussed during Council meetings for several months.These lots are located on more than three acres of land along Passaic Avenue and Volker Lane. The purpose of this ordinance is to permit inclusionary multi-family residential development of not more than 72 units, including a 20 percent set-aside of affordable units in the district. Inclusionary zoning requires a given share of new construction to be affordable housing.This is a revised version of an ordinance that was introduced in several forms over the course of 2021. The developers have agreed to changes to the height of the building, as well as adding sustainability language to the ordinance, after several meetings with Council members and township officials last year.Several residents, most of whom expressed their displeasure at previous hearings for this ordinance, again voiced their concerns. These included issues about traffic, setbacks, height, changing the character of the area, and more.The ordinance passed on a four to one vote, with Council member Michael Vieira opposing. The Council members who voted in favor noted they were doing so “reluctantly.” Each one spoke prior to the vote.Council member Rudy Fernandez noted that while the town would never have selected this area for a project of this size, once it was put on the radar of Fair Share Housing Center and the courts that decided how much affordable housing Livingston was responsible for permitting, it was out of the town’s hands. Ever since then, and particularly once the agreement was made that lowered Livingston’s affordable housing obligation by hundreds of units, it was simply a matter of managing the density of the project; the Council had little control outside of that once they unanimously signed the agreement, of which this area was part.Council member Shawn Klein noted that while affordable housing is certainly a good thing, the process by which towns are forced to build it is broken on several levels. He expressed his frustration with this particular project, noting that ...
