Karen Yi

@karen_yi

A Superior Court judge has rejected an expert's claim that a $500,000 home on the Jersey Shore should be considered affordable for low- and moderate-income families — a calculation more than 200 municipalities have relied on for the last few months.

The ruling by Middlesex Judge Douglas K. Wolfson is the latest in the legal tangle between towns, affordable housing advocates and builders over how much affordable housing is needed in the Garden State. It rejects a report — submitted on behalf of more than half the state's municipalities, including some in Ocean and Monmouth counties — outlining how to calculate affordable housing needs and countering higher housing estimates submitted by advocates. The decision, however, does not set precedent.

"The court recognized that these outlandish claims are detached from the reality of the housing market in New Jersey," said Kevin Walsh, executive director of the Fair Share Housing Center, a nonprofit that advocates for affordable housing. "Since when could someone earning $30,000 live in a $500,000 mansion?"

READ: Affordable housing advocates take a blow

Wolfson's 100-page ruling last week found the affordable housing report prepared by Econsult Solutions, a Philadelphia-based firm, for towns, was filled with flaws and deviated from state regulations. The methodology used to calculate affordable housing needs was "a results-oriented effort that was designed and crafted to reduce the projected prospective need on a statewide basis," Wolfson wrote.

Michael Cerra, assistant executive director for the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, said Wolfson's decision is unlikely to make waves outside Middlesex County. Fourteen other Superior Court judges are deciding rules and quotas for their municipalities and none have so far taken issue with the Econsult report.

"Each vicinage is operating independently," said Cerra. "It seemed like (Wolfson) did not give the Econsult report any credibility. That being said, that's not the take of most experts."

READ: How much affordable housing is enough?

The Middlesex decision comes a month after the Appellate Division dealt a blow to affordable housing advocates and relieved towns from accommodating potentially thousands more housing units accumulated when housing rules were in flux. The backlog of housing built up between 1999 and 2015 — a span known as the "gap period" — when the state agency charged with overseeing affordable housing failed to issue any guidance. Fair Share Housing Center has filed a request with the Supreme Court requesting permission to appeal the backlog ruling.

Cerra said the gap period decision marked a shift for affordable housing in the state.

IN-DEPTH: Courts to decide: Can the poor live at the Shore?

"There’s already direction in the rest of the state for a more realistic and more reasonable approach," he said. "Towns aren’t being let off the hook by any means, these numbers are still daunting. We’re moving toward the realm of the possible."

Karen Yi: 732-643-4277; kyi@gannettnj.com