This Part 1 shall be known and may be cited
as the "Affordable Housing Ordinance of the Township of North Brunswick."
[Added 7-25-2016 by Ord.
No. 16-13]
[Amended 7-25-2016 by Ord. No. 16-13]
The purpose of §§ 195-3 through 195-39 is to comply with the court order of the Superior Court of New Jersey in Urban League of Greater New Brunswick, et al. v. Mayor and Council of the Borough of Carteret, et al., while the purpose of §§ 195-40 through 195-60 is to comply with the Fair Housing Act, UHAC, and the HEFSP adopted by the Planning Board on June 23, 2016, by establishing mechanisms to assure that the housing units designated for occupancy by low- and moderate-income households remain affordable to and occupied by low- and moderate-income households.
The following terms, wherever used or referred
to in this Part 1, shall have the following meanings unless a different
meaning clearly appears from the context:
An instrument to be recorded with the Office
of the Recorder, Middlesex County, New Jersey, constituting restrictive
covenants running with the land with respect to the lower-income units
described and identified in such instrument. The instrument shall
set forth the terms, restrictions and provisions applicable to the
lower-income units and shall be consistent with the Affordable Housing
Ordinance, including but not limited to those provisions of the ordinance
concerning use; occupancy; sale; resale; rental; rerental; sales price
and rental determination; duration of restrictions; exempt transactions;
hardship exemptions; foreclosure; violation; legal description of
the specific lower-income units governed by the instrument; determination
of eligible purchasers and owners; responsibilities of owners; improvements;
and creating the liens and rights of the Agency upon such lower-income
units, all as such provisions of the ordinance exist at the time that
the instrument is executed by the Agency.
The instrument shall refer to this Affordable
Housing Ordinance and the rules and regulations of the Affordable
Housing Agency. The terms, restrictions and provisions of the instrument
shall bind all purchasers and owners of any lower-income unit, their
heirs, assigns and all persons claiming by, through or under their
heirs, assigns and administrators. If a single instrument is used
to govern more than one lower-income unit, then the instrument must
contain the legal description of each lower-income unit governed by
the instrument, and the deed of each and every individual lower-income
unit so governed must contain the recording information of the instrument
applicable to such lower-income unit.
It is intended that the terms of the "affordable
housing plan" be wholly consistent with the Affordable Housing Ordinance
and the rules and regulations of the Agency, as such ordinance and
rules and regulations of the Agency existed on the date the "affordable
housing plan" is executed by the Agency; however, in the event of
conflict or inconsistency, the Affordable Housing Ordinance and rules
and regulations, as they existed on the date of the "plan," shall
control.
Changes, amendments or revisions to the Affordable
Housing Ordinance and rules and regulations subsequent to the date
of an "affordable housing plan" shall not affect, amend or alter the
"affordable housing plan," and such "affordable housing plan" shall
continue to be interpreted and applied in accordance with the Affordable
Housing Ordinance and rules and regulations as the same existed on
the date of the particular "affordable housing plan." Such instrument
shall be executed by the Agency prior to recording of the "affordable
housing plan," and the Agency shall certify that the "affordable housing
plan" is consistent with the then-current Affordable Housing Ordinance
and rules and regulations. The instrument shall also be executed by
the developer and/or the then-current title holder of record of the
property upon which the lower-income units are to be constructed.
The Affordable Housing Agency of the Township of North Brunswick
created pursuant to this Part 1 or any successor duly authorized by
the Township Council to carry out the powers and responsibilities
of the Agency.
Refers to taxes, levies, charges or assessments, both public
and private, including those imposed by the Association, as the applicable
case may be, upon the lower-income units which are part of the Association.
Refers to the most senior mortgage lien to secure repayment
of funds for the purchase of a lower-income unit.
Refers to the holder and/or assigns of the first purchase
money mortgage and which must also be an institutional lender or investor,
licensed or regulated by a state or federal government or an agency
thereof. Other lenders, investors or persons may be holders of a first
purchase money mortgage; however, for purposes of this Part 1, such
other lenders, investors or persons shall not be "first purchase money
mortgagees."
Refers to a termination of all rights of the mortgagor or
the mortgagor's assigns or grantees in a lower-income unit covered
by a recorded mortgage through legal processes, or through a deed
in lieu of foreclosure which has been executed and delivered prior
to a judicially-regulated sale.
The total annual income from all sources of all members of
the household, with the exception of income exclusions provided for
in the rules and regulations promulgated by the Agency. Household
income shall specifically exempt interest income earned on the first
$25,000 of assets for senior citizen households (62 years of age and
over). Imputed interest income shall be added to annual income only
in the event that households are selling houses in order to move into
lower-income units.
One or more persons living as a single nonprofit housekeeping
unit, whether or not they are related by blood, marriage or otherwise.
Refers to additions within a lower-income unit, including
materials, supplies, appliances or fixtures which become a permanent
part of or affixed to such lower-income unit.
Eighty percent of the regional median income for moderate-income
households and 50% of the regional median income for low-income households,
with adjustments for household size.
A household which is either a low-income household or a moderate-income
household, as the case may be.
A purchaser of a lower-income unit which is either a low-income
purchaser or a moderate-income purchaser, as the case may be.
A residential unit within a development which has been designated
as either a low-income unit or a moderate-income unit, as the applicable
case may be, pursuant to this Affordable Housing Ordinance.
A household with a gross aggregate household income which
does not exceed 50% of the regional median income, with adjustments
for household size.
A low-income household purchasing either a low-income unit
or a moderate-income unit, as the case may be.
A unit which is affordable to a low-income household.
Any residential unit within a development which is not designated
a lower-income unit.
A household with a gross aggregate household income which
is greater than 50% of the regional median income, but which does
not exceed 80% of said regional median income, with adjustments for
household size.
A moderate-income household purchasing a moderate-income
unit.
A unit which is affordable to a low- or moderate-income household.
The then-current title holder of record of a lower income
unit. "Owner" shall refer to and mean the title holder of record as
the same is reflected in the most recently dated and recorded deed
for the particular lower-income unit. For purposes of the initial
sales or rentals of any lower-income unit, "owner" shall include the
developer/owner of such lower-income units. Ownership of a lower-income
unit shall be deemed to be acceptance and ratification of the provisions
of this Affordable Housing Ordinance and the affordable housing plan.
Where appropriate, the term "Owner" shall also mean and refer to a
person who owns a lower-income unit as a landlord or who occupies
a lower-income unit as a tenant. "Owner" shall not include any cosignor
or coborrower on any first purchase money mortgage unless such cosignor
or coborrower is also a named title holder of record of such lower-income
unit.
Refers to a person whom, pursuant to this Part 1 and the affordable housing plan, submits an application for certification as a qualified purchaser to the Agency; whose gross aggregate household income at the time of proposed purchase of a lower-income unit is within low- or moderate-income levels, as these income levels are designated herein; and who obtains certification as a qualified purchaser of a lower-income unit from the Agency pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Agency. Once a qualified purchaser becomes an owner of a lower-income unit in accordance with the provisions of this Part 1, any increase or decrease in the gross aggregate household income of such owner shall not affect ownership rights, privileges or obligations of such owner. The term "qualified purchaser" shall also include a person or family who occupies the lower-income unit on a rental basis, subject to the qualifications and conditions stated above and elsewhere herein. Any person who submits false information in support of an application for certification and who subsequently received such certification and either title to a lower-income unit as owner or possession of a lower-income unit as tenant shall be deemed to have committed a substantial breach of the provisions of this Part 1 and the affordable housing plan, and any right of ownership of such unit shall be subject to forfeiture pursuant to the provisions of § 195-17 of this Part 1. A qualified purchaser shall not be permitted to own more than one lower-income unit at the same time.
The median household income for the eleven-county present
need region determined by the Court to include the following counties:
Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset,
Union, Sussex and Warren. For ease of calculation, "regional median
income" shall mean 94% of the median income for the Primary Metropolitan
Statistical Area (PMSA) in which Middlesex County is located.
Those utilities that are essential for safe and sanitary
occupancy of a rental unit, including water, sanitary sewage, gas,
electricity and heat. For the purposes of this Part 1, cable television
and telephone are specifically excluded.
