All zones or districts in which multifamily developments are
permitted shall be subject to a mandatory set-aside of affordable
dwelling units and shall provide affordable dwellings on-site in accordance
with the requirements of this article.
A.
Any multifamily development of five or more dwelling units in a multifamily
residential development that is not a rental development, as described
below in Subsection B, shall provide an affordable housing set-aside
such that 20% of the dwelling units on site shall be affordable dwellings.
As an example, if five units are proposed on a site, at least one
affordable unit must be constructed on site.
B.
Any multifamily development of five or more dwelling units in a multifamily
residential development that is a rental development shall provide
an affordable housing set-aside such that 15% of the dwelling units
on site shall be affordable units.
C.
At least 13% of the affordable dwellings shall be affordable to households
earning 30% or less of the median income for the COAH region.
D.
Where the set-aside requirement of 20% in Subsection A, above, or
15% in Subsection B, above, results in fractional unit, the total
set-aside requirement shall be rounded upwards to the next whole number.
E.
Developers shall have the opportunity to demonstrate that the set
aside percentages set forth in Subsections A and B above render the
proposed project to be economically infeasible and, upon the provision
of satisfactory proofs, may seek relief, such as, but not limited
to, additional density, a monetary subsidy from the City's affordable
housing trust fund, bulk/design waivers, a payment in lieu of taxes,
or other forms of relief, provided that developers shall not be permitted
to seek reductions in the set-aside required by this chapter.
A.
For all residential development, an applicant shall satisfy its affordable
housing production obligation through on-site housing production in
connection with the residential project, which is one of the mechanisms
permitted pursuant to COAH's regulations.
B.
The other alternative mechanisms permitted under COAH's regulations
include the purchase of an existing market-rate unit at another location
in the community and its conversion to an affordable price-restricted
unit in accordance with COAH's criteria, regulations and policies;
and/or participation in reconstruction and/or buy-down/write-down,
buy-down/rent-down programs. An applicant shall only be entitled to
satisfy its affordable housing obligation via one or more of the alternative
mechanisms set forth above if the applicant demonstrates to the Common
Council that one or more of the alternatives better advances the goals
and policies set forth in the City's Housing Element and Fair Share
Plan. The Common Council shall have the complete discretion to determine
whether the alternative(s) better advances the goals and policies
set forth in the City's Housing Element and Fair Share Plan.
C.
Full and complete satisfaction of compliance with the affordable
housing requirements of the development shall be a specific, automatic,
essential and nonseverable condition of all land use approvals. Pursuant
to this condition, the applicant must demonstrate that it has satisfied
the Zoning Board's affordable housing condition of approval prior
to obtaining the first building permit and compliance with the affordable
housing condition should be a continuing condition of all Board approvals
for development.
The affordable unit(s) to be produced pursuant to §§ 18.1
and 18.2 above shall be available to a low-income individual or household
should only one affordable unit be required. Thereafter, each of the
affordable units shall be divided evenly between low- and moderate-income
individuals and households except in the event of the applicable formulas
resulting in an odd number of affordable units; in which event the
unit shall be a low-income residential unit. All affordable units
shall strictly comply with COAH's regulations, policies and the Uniform
Housing Affordability Controls (UHAC) rules, including, but not limited
to, pricing, phasing, bedroom distribution, controls on affordability,
range of affordability, affirmative marketing, and income qualification.
It shall be the applicant's responsibility, at its sole cost and expense,
to arrange for a COAH- and City-approved qualification service to
ensure full COAH compliance and to file such certificates, reports
and/or monitoring forms as may be required by COAH or the court to
verify COAH compliance of each affordable unit.
