Affordable Housing

Zoning and building code regulations would be relaxed to allow New Jersey municipalities to create Tiny Homes, affordable dwellings between 300 and 500 square-feet, under proposed legislation by New Jersey state Senator Raymond D. Lesniak (D).

A showdown is on the horizon as Toms River officials refuse to accept the state's map designating three areas in the Township for likely affordable housing construction to meet third-round obligations.

Toms River already is affordable, according to Township officials opposed to the State's third round of affordable housing mandates.

The Toms River Township Council this week approved a resolution to allow an age-restricted, senior citizen complex to be built on municipal-owned land at the intersection of Massachusetts and Cox Crow Road, as part of its state-mandated affordable housing plan.

A divided New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday issued its latest ruling in a string of cases on affordable housing that date to the 1970s, ordering the state to rewrite its rules for how many homes for low-income residents each town is responsible for and inviting lawmakers to rethink their approach to the issue.

Federal disaster money set aside to help build more affordable rental units in New Jersey is being put to work.