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Government
Wyckoff Settles Fourth Round Housing Obligation, Wins Decade of Repose; Centennial Street Fair Set for June 27
The township attorney announced that Fourth Round Mount Laurel compliance has been settled for ten years — the same night the committee authorized its signature centennial celebration.
Wyckoff's effort to satisfy New Jersey's affordable housing mandate reached a milestone Tuesday, when Township Attorney David Becker announced that a consent order for Fourth Round Mount Laurel compliance had been signed.
"We have our Fourth Round compliance and repose," Becker told the committee.[1]
"Compliance and repose" is the legal status a municipality achieves when a court recognizes it has satisfied its affordable housing obligation — and the protection that follows, shielding the town from builder's remedy lawsuits for a set period.
The Fourth Round of Mount Laurel obligations — the court-mandated framework requiring New Jersey municipalities to provide realistic opportunities for affordable housing development — had sat atop Becker's agenda since he joined the township. The consent order, he said, closes that chapter and shields Wyckoff from builder's remedy litigation for the next decade.
The path to compliance required concessions the committee did not prefer. "Some of the things we need to do were not necessarily things we wanted to do," Becker said, "but we felt they were best for the town under the circumstances."[5] "We're good for the next ten years." He credited the committee's decisions on overlay zoning districts as central to the settlement. Mayor Roger Lane welcomed the news from the dais. "Excellent," he said. "That's huge."
The same meeting authorized two major events for later this month as part of Wyckoff's centennial year. A street fair will close Main Street on June 27 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., followed by a fireworks celebration at the municipal complex from 6 to 10 p.m.[2] Both events will include vendor booths, food, live music, amusement rides, and beer gardens operating under state social affair permits — both of which, Township Clerk Nancy Brown noted, had been approved that day.
Committeeman Pete Melchione said during committee reports that vendor and sponsor spots were still available for both events. A centennial monument outside Town Hall is also planned for the fall.[3]
The committee introduced two ordinances Tuesday. The first, Ordinance 2093, would place a public question before voters on whether to continue and expand the municipal open space trust fund.[4] The second, Ordinance 2094, would revise land use application fees and escrow deposits. Both will return for public hearing before adoption.