A judge in Mercer County ruled on November 22 that the Fair Share Housing Center FSHC, a nonprofit group that supports low-income families in housing issues, can join Montvale’s lawsuit challenging New Jersey’s new affordable housing law.
The lawsuit focuses on Montvale’s request to pause the state’s affordable housing requirements. Judge Robert Lougy has scheduled a hearing for December 20 to decide on the motion. Both FSHC and the state Attorney General’s Office need to respond to Montvale’s arguments by December 6.
Montvale’s mayor, Michael Ghassali, expressed disappointment over the judge’s decision to allow FSHC to get involved. Ghassali said, “It’s not surprising. We made a strong case, but instead of addressing our legal concerns, they’ve mostly called us racist and elitist.”
Montvale filed the lawsuit on September 9, challenging the state’s affordable housing law. Initially, eight other towns joined Montvale, and now 28 municipalities are part of the lawsuit, with more possibly joining after outreach at a state conference in November.
FSHC Executive Director Adam Gordon criticized the lawsuit, pointing out that Montvale’s demographics are very different from the state as a whole. He said that urban areas already carry a heavy load of affordable housing and defended the new law as necessary to meet statewide needs. He noted that Montvale has fewer than 2% Black residents and under 6% Latino residents, and that wealthy towns, like Millburn, have been leading the opposition to affordable housing.