In In re Declaratory Judgment Actions Filed by Various Municipalities, 446 N.J. Super. 259 (App. Div. 2016), discussed here (under the heading “Another Mount Laurel Case for the Supreme Court?”), the Appellate Division issued an important affordable housing decision. That ruling stated that, in calculating their fair shares of such housing, municipalities were not required to include a separate component for their affordable housing need for the “gap period” of 1999-2015 in addition to calculating their “present need” and “prospective need” for affordable housing.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court announced that it has granted review of that decision. The Court also has expedited the appeal, scheduling oral argument for November 29 or 30. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s Office, is “When calculating a municipality’s fair share obligation, how should affordable housing need that accumulated from 1999 through 2015 (the gap period) be addressed?” This is likely to be one of the big cases that the Court will address in the new Term that has just begun.