COAH Fees – Some Certainty in an Uncertain World

While much of the uncertainty regarding affordable housing requirements in NJ remains, the questions involving the applicability and future of the 2.5% nonresidential development fee were answered yesterday. Acting Governor Kim Guadagno signed into law legislation that reestablishes the exemption from the fee for eligible projects. Perhaps the most broadly applicable exemption provides that projects which obtain preliminary or final site plan approval prior to July 1, 2013 are not subject to the development fee provided that building permits are issued by December 31, 2015.

The prior exemption from the fee expired July 1, 2010. The new legislation also provides for the reimbursement of fees paid subsequent to July 1, 2010, unless already spent by the municipality in connection with an affordable housing development. A developer must seek such reimbursement within 120 days of the effective date of the bill.

“With the economy still very much in flux, the suspension of the non-residential development fee will assist New Jersey’s non-residential real estate to get back on track, produce the jobs, taxable revenue and ratables this state desperately needs,” said New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Lori Grifa, who oversees the State’s affordable housing development efforts.

For the full text of the legislation, click here.