Jersey City mayoral candidate Mussab Ali pledged to end exclusionary zoning, enforce rent control, and start a community land bank as part of his citywide housing plan if elected mayor.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
The proposal by the former board of education (BOE) president outlined steps to tackle the city’s ongoing issues with affordability.
“Jersey City is in a housing crisis! I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Our rents are out of control! Jersey City has some of the highest rents in the country. Working families are getting priced out,” Ali exclaimed.
“Seniors are being forced to move away from communities they have called home for decades. And too many young people who were raised here like me are wondering if they’ll ever be able to afford a home in the city they love. This crisis is the result of political choices … They have failed to put people over profit.”
The mayoral hopeful continues that he wants to build more homes, enforce rent control, and utilize vacant properties.
“One-third of Jersey City is zoned to build one to two2 units …I t locks out working people, young families, and renters from entire neighborhoods. We are going to responsibly upzone every R1 area in Jersey City to R2,” he declared.
Ali said this policy would allow modest buildings up to four stories tall in residential neighborhoods of one- and two-family homes. Every new project of more than two units will be mandated to have 25 percent permanent affordable housing.
He asserted that this could “unlock over 22,000 new homes over time,” as well as that 55 percent of the city’s renters moved in over the past seven years.
“It’s about giving families more choices and stopping displacement before it happens,” Ali argued.
He clarified that this approach would not affect historic districts or those with redevelopment projects, declaring that it would empower homeowners to make additional income by building new units.
Ali also highlighted the need to strictly enforce rent control laws in the city.
“It’s not being enforced. Rent is up over 50 percent since 2015. But if rent control was enforced the way it was supposed to be, the legal rent would be much closer to a 20 percent increase,” he stated.
“We impose the max penalty on bad landlords who break it. We will strengthen the Office of Landlord-Tenant Relations. And we will proactively investigate abuse. And we’ll require full transparency.”
As part of this initiative, the city would have public searchable rent control database. He also talked about cracking down on tax abatements for developers.
“We’ll audit every tax abatement agreement that has been issued. If a developer’s out of compliance, we will cancel their abatement and bring back dollars to your community,” he explained.
Ali also proposed a community land bank to take over abandoned properties to provide affordable housing and greenery.
“We have nearly 850 vacant properties here in Jersey City that can be transformed into permanently affordable homes,” he said.
“This plan is rooted in building a better future for our working-class families. Everyone deserves to call this place home. Not just the wealthy and well-connected. Not just those who bought into it a generation ago.”
Ali indicated this upzoning will allow homeowners to build more. For example, a traditional Bayonne Box home, prominent in Jersey City as well, has two units at the most.
“ … Only 17 percent of those who work in Jersey City can afford to live there … The people who work here can no longer afford to be here,” he noted.
Furthermore, Ali cited the Newark Land Bank as a success story to replicate. The land bank can seize abandoned property or buy properties at auction to then redevelop them.
Ali said publishing an academic paper at Rutgers Law School on the subject made him uniquely qualified to be the mayor and implement such a policy.
He also said his experience growing up in the city and seeing different housing policies over the years makes him qualified. Ali was also critical of the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance (IZO) and its mixed track record creating more affordable housing.
The other declared candidates for the non-partisan November 4th mayoral race are former Gov. Jim McGreevey, Ward E Councilman James Solomon, Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2), Council President Joyce Watterman, and Police Officer Christina Freeman.
