Opinion ID: 2365370
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Fair Housing Act and the Council on Affordable Housing

Text: On July 2, 1985, the Legislature codified the Mt. Laurel doctrine, including its available compliance measures, by enacting the FHA. Holmdel, supra, 121 N.J. at 556, 583 A. 2d 277. The FHA creates a new administrative agency, the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), N.J.S.A. 52:27D-307, to oversee the development of low and moderate income housing throughout the state through a system of voluntary participation by municipalities in the COAH process. To carry out its function, the agency is authorized to adopt necessary rules and regulations. Id. at -307.5. Under the FHA, COAH serves as an alternative forum for the resolution of Mount Laurel disputes. Municipalities facing Mount Laurel challenges may use the COAH mediation and review process, id. at -316b, or independently may seek COAH review of their zoning and affordable housing regulations, id. at -314, in order to receive a measure of protection from future challenges. See id. at -317a. On a grant of substantive certification from COAH, id. at -314, a municipality's housing plan enjoys a ten-year [2] presumption of validity that may be overcome in subsequent litigation only by clear and convincing evidence. [3] See id. at -317a; id. at -313. In Hills Development Co. v. Bernards Township, 103 N.J. 1, 25, 510 A. 2d 621 (1986), this Court upheld the constitutionality of the FHA.