May 6, 2008 - 3:26pm
Opinion
Torricelli on COAH
By Robert TorricelliEverything that I admire and fear about the Democratic Party was on display this week. The compassion for creating affordable housing and the insensitivity to economic growth were both reflected in the new COAH rules.
New Jersey needs affordable housing. Young workers and people on modest incomes need a place to live and raise their families. We all agree.
The problem is the tragedy of unintended consequences. Previous policy allowed communities with a COAH obligation to send money to other communities with a need to build. It worked very well. Rural communities where we want to stop suburban sprawl would subsidize housing in Jersey City or Elizabeth. Affordable housing was built along mass transit corridors where services were available at more modest costs. Urban areas with sufficient affordable housing were exempt. A consequence of the exemption was that Trenton or Newark didn't impose COAH fees on developers and they achieved a comparative advantage with suburban and rural areas for new development.
All of that is about to change. Rural communities might be forced to actually construct the housing rather than transfer funds to urban areas. The first result is a conflict with the state policy of stopping sprawl. The second would be the relocation of families of modest means to rural and suburban areas where automobiles are the only means of transport. Affordable food and services will all be $4 a gallon away. New fees would be extended to urban developers in some of the state's most distressed cities. Urban developers, already plagued by aging infrastructure and limited parking, would lose their only advantage.
It gets worse. New COAH rules would be extended to nursing homes, hospitals and every new employer constructing a factory or warehouse. The world has turned upside down. The elderly in the final days of their lives will face not only mounting medical bills but absorb COAH fees to subsidize younger workers. Stagnating wages, which have created the inability of workers to afford housing, would be further impacted as new companies either avoid New Jersey or suppress wages to afford the fee.
Is anybody thinking this through?
Related topics: COAH
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Is this Torricelli or Lonegan???
As much as it pains me to say it, the Torch is dead on in his assessment of the proposed changes to COAH.
Bob, you were away from your blog for a while. Did you find a donor to give you a common sense transplant or has the change from Hudson to Hunterdon rejuvenated your outlook on things?
Either way, you are ... right.
I think I just had the political equivalent of a Crying Game moment ...
Lipstick on a proverbial pig
Wow,
"unintended consequences" brought about by a feel good Marxist program - that's something that you don't hear every day.
The premise that "WE" feel the need to provide low income housing is flat-out wrong. This concept comes from the blob in Trenton.
"WE" the people who are working our tails off to float this sinking ship are getting sick and tired of this nonsense.
Yes, COAH is broken, but not because of nuance - because of a faulty premise.
It is NOT the role of government to be beneficent. Unfortunately, our costliest commodity is ignorance, so people don't even realize that their boots are being peed on while being told that it is raining.
Some day we producers are going to pack up and leave you looters to freeze in the dark.
I say Torch ol' boy - How many COAH units do you have up there near your country estate? A little do as I say not as I do...
For the record - I live in the land of mink and manure as well.
NIMBY Torch?
The hypocrisy of this man knows no bounds.
Let COAH build "affordable" housing right next to his farm in horse country. In other words, he's a limousine liberal when low income housing is slated for Camden or Jersey City, but it's a bad idea when it's slated for the suburbs.
What makes this all the more humorous is that Torricelli is hardly a liberal, but a self-absorbed conservative looking out for his own interests.
At least he's consistent.
Vote Column - All the way!
The People's Republic of New Jersey
NJ is the ONLY state in the union where its Supreme Court has deemed the State having a constitutional obligation to provide affordable housing. Why?
The buidler's remedy is pathetic. If the goal is to force towns to allow low income housing construction, why is a developer allowed to build two hundred market-rate homes and provide just a handful of "COAH" units. The builder's remedy should ONLY provide construction of COAH units.
Torch ran out of his reservation to defend ... poor?
Not! Demsanddonts is on something. Outraged Torch is all about himself and his selfinterests. No surprises here. I guess he is outraged that somebody actually might build affordable housing next to his "huge" farm. And who would drive these poor fellows around? How about some neighborly help? Is that too much to ask from a leading advocate for poor and disenfranchised? No, not Torch, but poor people of NJ.
affordable taxation ???
What good is a $ 270 k house in Bergenfield
if you have to pay over 8-9 K in taxes.
Affordable housing is a code for housing for illegals nothing more and nothing less.
COAH and options
This is the same TORCH that supported zillions of COAH units in the Meadowlands of Secaucus until he decided it was better to be an environmentalist.
Why is NJ the only state that has a court mandated affordable housing plan. It's because we have such an aversion to trailer parks. That's how other states provide affordable housing, and it doesn't cost the taxpayer one dime to build. But developers don't make a profit by getting to build much more units than zoning allows, so they don't want THAT option. Heaven forbid we have trailer trash in NJ.
"Affordable housing is a
"Affordable housing is a code for housing for illegals nothing more and nothing less."
If you truly believe that, you are a moron, nothing more and nothing less.
Affordable Housing = Good for the Economy
What? None of the business-savants, so aghast at the prospect of state-sponsored affordable housing programs, have thought about the economic benefits that would accrue from having a public with more disposable income to spend, and subject to lower property-tax assessments? The lower cost of employment that would result from a lower cost of living would be nice for local businesses, too.
A real affordable housing policy, that delivered an ongoing supply of units both available and affordable to middle-income people would be of great benefit to New Jersey's economy.
Unfortunately, the new bill doesn't sound like the best answer.
http://politickernj.com/mcarr
http://politickernj.com/mcarroll/20060/property-tax-disaster
No fan of the Torch here,
but he's right on target.
The COAH regulations and A-500 are complete madness. That's probably the worst piece of legislation I have ever seen.
We can build affordable housing. We can renovate affordable units. It's the bureaucrats in Trenton that make it difficult.
PA, anyone?