The board’s discussion primarily focused on the township’s housing element and fair share plan, a crucial component of its master plan that must be adopted by June 30th to maintain compliance with state regulations. The plan aims to fulfill the fourth-round affordable housing obligations by developing 496 units, a figure accepted by the court after the township successfully contested the Department of Community Affairs’ (DCA) initial calculation of 553 units. The board emphasized the necessity of adopting this plan to prevent legal challenges and ensure continued immunity from builder’s remedy lawsuits.

Edward Snikus, representing Burgess Associates, provided an overview of the housing element and fair share plan, stressing its role in maintaining the township’s compliance with the Fair Housing Act. He highlighted the historical context of affordable housing legislation in New Jersey, tracing back to the Mount Laurel decisions and the dissolution of the Council on Affordable Housing (COA). With COA no longer in existence, municipalities like Parsippany-Troy Hills are required to adopt housing plans that address both prospective needs for new constructions and present needs for rehabilitating existing units.

The board discussed various proposed developments designed to meet the township’s affordable housing obligations. These proposals include converting existing office spaces into multifamily residential units, with notable locations such as 400 Interpace and Upper Pond Road considered for redevelopment. Collectively, the seven projects under consideration are expected to yield 372 affordable units, supplemented by 124 bonus credits to meet the required 496 units.

Despite these efforts, the board acknowledged the challenges of distributing the housing projects throughout the community. A detailed map presented during the meeting illustrated the distribution of these projects, with significant growth anticipated in the southern and southwestern areas following the redevelopment of the former Matt Cali corporate center. Concerns were raised about the concentration of developments funneling students into a single high school, specifically Pacific Hills High School, with six out of seven projects expected to impact this institution. The court mandates concerning affordable housing location did not permit balancing school impacts, leading to concerns about the strain on school resources.

In addition to educational infrastructure, the board expressed concerns about the township’s water supply and the sustainability of ongoing development pressures. This concern ties into broader discussions about the implications of high-density development on local infrastructure, which some members criticized as being overlooked by state housing policies.

The board also addressed the township’s unmet housing needs, amounting to 469 units from prior rounds. Efforts are underway to identify potential units to fulfill this obligation, with overlay zones maintained to facilitate future development. A mandatory set-aside ordinance requires developments with five or more units to allocate at least 20% as affordable housing.

Concerns were voiced about developers’ financial stability and the hypothetical risk of losing affordable units if a developer were to go bankrupt. The board acknowledged that such scenarios would necessitate amending the housing element to account for lost units.