The Jersey City Council discussed amendments to the affordable housing enforcement ordinance, up for first reading on Wednesday, during yesterday afternoon’s caucus meeting.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
“This ordinance will clarify affordable housing compliance language for certain income-restricted housing units,” Jersey City Affordable Housing Division Director Gigi Gazon explained.
The ordinance imposes would allow the city “to access fees upon developers or owners of buildings, projects, and/or units subject to this Chapter sufficient to cover the actual administrative costs of carrying out the Division’s responsibilities and strengthens their ability to enforce the law,” the local legislation says.
Gazon also pointed out that enforcement in prior years went through the zoning department, but they now have the ability to have an enforcement officer whose responsibilities can be codified to increase the enforcement of deals with developers.
A developer will still have to pay $2,000 to cover the cost of establishing an Affordable Housing Agreement (AHA) even if the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance (IZO) is not triggered.
As part of the new affordable housing portal, the city will also charge fees for each income restricted unit based on the maximum rent allowable per unit : three percent for very low income, five percent for low income, seven percent for moderate income, and nine percent for workforce units.
“We are also incorporating language to make sure that developers understand we monitor and hold compliant units that are restricted for households between 80 and 120 percent of the AMI (Area Median Income),” Gazon continued.
She explained “affordable housing” means moderate income housing, along with low-income housing and very low-income housing.
“We’re going to hold them compliant for those units … We’re clarifying the prohibition of non-rental charges by developers and property owners and that means amenities fees, pool fees,” Gazon explained. They’re also clarifying unit distribution types.
“It limits the number of one bedrooms and studios. You need to give us half and half. You can’t just give us all studios and no one bedrooms,” she added.
Furthermore, landlords can only raise the rent on affordable housing units once every 12 months.
“A lot of developers try to self-administer their units and they don’t have the staff or expertise to really comply. We strengthened that language as well. They need to hold a copy of the contract with their administrative agent on file with us. That’s also a requirement,” Gazon said.
She noted agreements made at the Zoning and Planning Board stages usually dictate whether a developer is required to have affordable housing units.
“Who oversees the process of affordable units within an establishment?” Ward F Councilman Frank “Educational” Gilmore asked.
“We do,” Gazon replied.
Once a lottery is run and people move in, a waiting list is formed. When someone moves out, someone else is eligible and will be notified by the property owner of their eligibility to move, the director explained, further stating they track the process closely.
“Is there a point where they have to show they did their due diligence?” Gilmore asked.
“Yes,” Gazon replied.
“Do we have a mechanism where we can double check to see if it that’s true?” Gilmore questioned.
Gazon said developers must hire administrative agents who are certified professionals bound by a code of ethics to enforce affordable housing laws.
“They will keep the developer in check and they will report to us any problems,” she asserted.
“So there is a check?” Gilmore asked.
“There’s a lot of checks and balances. Absolutely,” Gazon stated.
The Jersey City Council will convene for their regular meeting tomorrow at City Hall, 280 Grove St., at 6 p.m. and the session will stream live on Microsoft Teams.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect that the ordinance is an amended version of what was previously on the books.
Making living in Jersey City more expensive for most so a few get subsidized life.
Politicians buy vote with there peoples money.