NJ affordable housing bill would allow nonprofits, churches to bypass local zoning
William Westhoven, Morristown Daily Record, Nov. 13, 2025
A bill moving through the New Jersey Legislature's lame-duck session might be good news for nonprofits and religious groups looking to unload property in a seller's market. Housing developers, too, could get a boost.
But other parties, ranging from municipal leaders to at least one environmental group, say the legislation would allow largely unfettered building, with little regard to local zoning laws or smart-planning goals.
The goal of the bill, introduced by state Sen. Troy Singleton, is to encourage the construction of more affordable housing in New Jersey by cutting red tape for nonprofit owners that seek to build "inclusionary housing."
"What we're trying to do, in the simplest terms, is to remove or reduce the regulatory and zoning barriers to housing development," Singleton, a Burlington County Democrat, said in an interview. "We have both an affordability crisis, a supply crisis and the economic growth problem that is tied to housing. That, to me, is why this particular piece of legislation is so important.”
Sounding the opposition is Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco, a Morris County Republican. He said the bill is likely to pass before year's end with support from Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Phil Murphy.
His North Jersey district includes several towns that have been pushing back on a state mandate requiring them to create more low- and moderate-income housing. That requirement has sparked a residential building boom, with more to come. Many local officials and residents say the influx has ruined the character of their towns while straining resources and increasing traffic.
Singleton's proposal, Bucco said, "is really misguided."
"It would take away the zoning powers of a municipality," he said. "That has never been done before. One size doesn't fit all. We've seen that time and time again. It's a local issue. The state should not be imposing its judgment on local municipalities.”
Why local officials are worried
Bucco was in Madison on Nov. 10, when the town council unanimously passed a resolution opposing the legislation, S4736. Borough officials said it could undercut their efforts to preserve 51 wooded acres that Drew University has tried to develop.
"We have been committed to providing affordable housing long before we ever had to," Mayor Robert Conley, a Democrat, said at the meeting. "But we have never done it [while] turning a blind eye to good planning. And that's what this bill does. This would be terrible for all over the state. Yes, we must deliver affordable housing. But we will do it the right way.”
The council in neighboring Chatham Borough passed a similar resolution on Nov. 10.
"I believe we need more housing that is affordable," Chatham council President Jocelyn Mathiasen said in an email. "However, I also believe in good land-use planning and thoughtful, deliberate consideration of projects with local input.”
The Singleton bill, she said, "overrides the state, county, and local planning process and uses a sledgehammer approach to force more market-rate (typically 'luxury') apartments without regard to local impacts.
"It is a twist of the knife," she added. "No wonder they are trying to sneak it through in lame duck."
How affordable housing bill would work
The New Jersey State League of Municipalities also opposes the bill, noting that it would allow nonprofits to build affordable housing while bypassing the need for any variances to local zoning rules.
"The bill requires a municipal planning board to approve an application to repurpose or redevelop an eligible property into an inclusionary development with affordable housing, regardless of the eligible property’s location in the municipality, if the project complies with applicable zoning requirements, as described in the bill," the league says on its website.
Projects would be eligible for such treatment if 20% of their proposed units meet state criteria for moderate-, low- or very-low-income housing.
Housing proposed on those properties "shall be allowed a density of 40 units per acre and a height of one story above the maximum height otherwise applicable to the zoning district," the bill says.
Singleton says critics of the measure overstate the power it would offer to nonprofits and religious institutions. New Jersey's housing crisis, on the other hand, is not overstated, he said.
"Regardless of whether it's affordable, moderate — whatever you want to label it — our housing inventory shortage is pretty significant," he said. "It has real economic consequences." He cited a U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimate this May that said New Jersey's housing shortage contributed to $12.6 billion in lost "economic output."
"Basic economics 101" suggests that "you create more supply to meet the demand and pricing goes down," he said. "And we need to do that, because we're seeing individuals are being priced out of the ability to stay in New Jersey. We need to do better in that regard."
What is the Mount Laurel decision?
New Jersey's current, court-enforced housing mandate traces back half a century to the state Supreme Court's Mount Laurel decision. The ruling outlawed "exclusionary zoning" and directed municipalities to change local laws to allow for the construction of their "fair share" of affordable units.
The state eventually created a Council on Affordable Housing to enforce the Mount Laurel doctrine. But after 15 years of nonenforcement, the state Supreme Court again weighed in in 2015 and shifted oversight to the judicial system. "Builder's remedy" lawsuits compelled towns to accommodate development projects as long as they offered a minority of the units — often as little as 20% — at below-market rates.
In 2024, Murphy and the Democratic Legislature passed a new housing law to speed construction and codify the process for towns to determine the number of units they need to build.
Aaron Gordon, executive director of the Fair Share Housing Center, an advocacy group, welcomed Singleton's measure, which he called the "YIGBY — Yes in God’s Back Yard — bill." It "reflects a practical approach gaining national momentum to address America’s housing crisis.”
The bill "empowers faith-based and nonprofit institutions to create affordable homes on land they already own, while maintaining local environmental protections," Gordon said. "New Jersey can and must advance both housing opportunity and environmental stewardship. This proposed legislation helps achieve that balance.”
The legislation was referred to the state Senate's Community and Urban Affairs Committee. No hearing has yet been announced. The bill must pass the full Senate and state Assembly and receive the governor's signature to become law.
Drew Forest preservation at risk?
In Madison, however, officials said the measure could allow Drew University to build high-density housing on campus forestland that the town wants to purchase for open space.
"The bill has a laudable goal of accelerating the construction of affordable housing in New Jersey," said Claire Whitcomb, who chairs the borough Environmental Commission.
But it also "incentivizes sprawl, overrides local master plan goals and undermines the need for the sort of smart-growth planning that makes towns walkable, livable and public-transportation-savvy," she said. "Most importantly, the bill totally ignores the need to protect New Jersey’s dwindling open space, reduce flooding and protect over-stressed natural resources."
After two years of negotiations, legal battles and a public campaign to protect the property, the two sides announced an agreement last November for the university to sell most of the Drew Forest land to Madison. Although full terms of the agreement were never revealed, Madison officials at one point said they had offered more than $65 million — consisting of local, county and federal funds
But a year later, that deal has not been finalized. This summer, Drew outlined the potential construction of nearly 700 residential units on the property, about a fifth of them reserved for affordable housing. University officials did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
Where's Mikie Sherrill's affordable housing?
Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat who has represented Madison in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District, was instrumental in obtaining federal grant dollars to help the borough's attempt to purchase the forest. Many local officials in the suburban district have complained that Mount Laurel has fueled overdevelopment.
During her campaign, Sherrill said she would work to make it easier and cheaper to build new housing.
Speaking about affordable housing policy after being elected on Nov. 4, she promised to end diversions from the state's Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which she said should be dedicated to helping towns develop units that are accessible for the working class. She promised to reduce building and construction costs by streamlining the state permitting process.
Sherrill also promised to expand first-time homebuyer assistance programs.
www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2025/11/13/nj-affordable-housing-bill-nonprofits-bypass-zoning-restrictions-churches/87211123007/