Cities in New Jersey are calling for the suspension of the affordable housing law

A group of municipalities in New Jersey is asking a court to suspend the state orders affordable housing law until their lawsuit against the state is resolved, Mike Hayes reports in Gothamist. “The cities claim that the law unfairly requires them to build more and more housing without regard to the amount of development they can actually support,” a common complaint from cities in New Jersey and other states with similar legislation in place, such as California.

The cities also argue that the law is unconstitutional because it exempts certain urban centers designated as “urban auxiliary municipalities.” These are cities with certain characteristics, such as high unemployment rates, lower-than-average incomes or a high population density. “Many of these cities are also already home to public housing projects and income-restricted units.” These urban communities still need to create more than 40,000 new homes by renovating existing homes.