Section 52:27D-304.3 - Present, prospective fair share obligation, low- and moderate-income housing, methodologiesa. The present and prospective fair share obligation for low- and moderate-income housing for each municipality in the State shall be determined as described in this section. In addition, the March 8, 2018 unpublished decision of the Superior Court, Law Division, Mercer County, In re Application of Municipality of Princeton shall be referenced as to datasets and methodologies that are not explicitly addressed by this section. These determinations of municipal present and prospective need shall be based on a determination of the present and prospective regional need for low- and moderate-income housing, established pursuant to section 6 of P.L.2024, c.2 (C.52:27D-304.2). These calculations of municipal present and prospective need shall use necessary datasets that are updated to the greatest extent practicable.b. A municipality's present need obligation shall be determined by estimating the existing deficient housing units currently occupied by low- and moderate-income households within the municipality, following a methodology comparable to the methodology used to determine third round present need, through the use of datasets made available through the federal decennial census and the American Community Survey, including the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy dataset thereof.c. A municipality's prospective fair share obligation of the regional prospective need for the upcoming 10-year round shall be determined in accordance with this subsection:(1) If a municipality is a qualified urban aid municipality, the municipality shall be exempt from responsibility for any fair share prospective need obligation for the upcoming 10-year round. For the purposes of this section, a municipality is a qualified urban aid municipality if the municipality, as of July 1 of the year prior to the beginning of a new round, is designated by the department, pursuant to P.L.1978, c.14 (C.52:27D-178 et seq.), to receive State aid and the municipality meets at least one of the following criteria: (a) The ratio of substandard existing deficient housing units currently occupied by low- and moderate-income households within the municipality, compared to all existing housing in the municipality, is greater than the equivalent ratio in the region;(b) The municipality has a population density greater than 10,000 persons per square mile of land area; or(c) The municipality has a population density of more than 6,000, but less than 10,000 persons per square mile of land area, and less than five percent vacant parcels not used as farmland, as measured by the average of: (i) The number of vacant land parcels in the municipality as a percentage of the total number of parcels in the municipality; and(ii) The valuation of vacant land in the municipality as a percentage of total valuations in the municipality.(2) A municipality's equalized nonresidential valuation factor shall be determined. To determine this factor, the changes in nonresidential property valuations in the municipality, since the beginning of the round preceding the round being calculated, shall be calculated using data published by the Division of Local Government Services in the department. For the purposes of this paragraph, the beginning of the round of affordable housing obligations preceding the fourth round shall be the beginning of the gap period in 1999. The change in the municipality's nonresidential valuations shall be divided by the regional total change in nonresidential valuations to determine the municipality's share of the regional change as the equalized nonresidential valuation factor.(3) A municipality's income capacity factor shall be determined. This factor shall be determined by calculating the average of the following measures: (a) The municipal share of the regional sum of the differences between the median municipal household income, according to the most recent American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates, and an income floor of $100 below the lowest median household income in the region; and(b) The municipal share of the regional sum of the differences between the median municipal household incomes and an income floor of $100 below the lowest median household income in the region, weighted by the number of the households in the municipality.(4) A municipality's land capacity factor shall be determined. This factor shall be determined by estimating the area of developable land in the municipality's boundaries, and regional boundaries, that may accommodate development through the use of the "land use / land cover data" most recently published by the Department of Environmental Protection, data from the American Community Survey and Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy dataset thereof, MOD-IV Property Tax List data from the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury, and construction permit data from the Department of Community Affairs and weighing such land based on the planning area type in which such land is located. After the weighing factors are applied, the sum of the total developable land area that may accommodate development in the municipality and in the region shall be determined. The municipality's share of its region's developable land shall be its land capacity factor. Developable land that may accommodate development shall be weighted based on the planning area type in which such land is located, as designated pursuant to P.L.1985, c.398 (C.52:18A-196 et seq.), P.L.1979, c.111 (C.13:18A-1 et seq.), or P.L. 2004, c. 120 (C.13:20-1 et seq.), as follows:(a) Planning Area 1 (Metropolitan) shall have a weighting factor of 1.0;(b) Planning Area 2 (Suburban) shall have a weighting factor of 1.0;(c) Planning Area 3 (Fringe) shall have a weighting factor of 0.5;(d) Planning Area 4 (Rural) shall have a weighting factor of 0.0;(e) Planning Area 5 (Environmentally Sensitive) shall have a weighting factor of 0.0;(f) Centers in Planning Areas 1 and 2 shall have a weighting factor of 1.0;(g) Centers in Planning Areas 3, 4, and 5 shall have a weighting factor of 0.5;(h) Pinelands Regional Growth Area shall have a weighting factor of 0.5;(i) Pinelands Town shall have a weighting factor of 0.5;(j) All other Pinelands shall have a weighting factor of 0.0;(k) Meadowlands shall have a weighting factor of 1.0;(l) Meadowlands Center shall have a weighting factor of 1.0;(m) Highlands Preservation Area shall have a weighting factor of 0.0;(n) Highlands Planning Area Existing Community Zone and Highlands Designated Center in a Highlands-conforming municipality, as determined by the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council pursuant to the list provided to the department pursuant to subsection d. of section 3 of P.L.2024, c.2 (C.52:27D-304.1), shall have a weighting factor of 1.0;(o) Highlands Planning Area, State-designated sewer service area, Highlands municipality that is not a Highlands-conforming municipality as determined by the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council pursuant to the list provided to the department pursuant to subsection d. of section 3 of P.L.2024, c.2 (C.52:27D-304.1), shall have a weighting factor of 1.0; and(p) All other Highlands Planning Areas shall have a weighting factor of 0.0.(5) The equalized nonresidential valuation factor, income capacity factor, and land capacity factor, determined in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of this subsection, shall be averaged to yield the municipality's average allocation factor for distributing gross regional prospective need to the municipality. The regional prospective need shall then be multiplied by the municipality's average allocation factor to determine the municipality's gross prospective need for the 10-year round.Added by L. 2024, c. 2,s. 7, eff. 3/20/2024.