NJ A967

Shifts affordable housing obligation calculations from regional to statewide level, with the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) determining which municipalities must participate and assigning each a fair share of the statewide housing need

Requires selected municipalities to submit a housing element within five months of receiving their fair share assignment, detailing current housing stock and properties suitable for affordable housing development

COAH would develop fair share plans for municipalities rather than municipalities creating their own, with municipalities required to adopt implementing ordinances within 45 days of plan publication

Eliminates the "resolution of participation" system where municipalities voluntarily opted into the COAH process, replacing it with mandatory state-directed participation

Prohibits exclusionary zoning suits directly against municipalities with substantive certification; any such litigation must be brought against COAH, with municipalities having the option to join as parties