TOMS RIVER, NJ – On Wednesday, Toms River Township Mayor Dan Rodrick and the township council announced they will continue to fight New Jersey’s affordable housing mandates by filing a lawsuit against the state.
That lawsuit challenges the Department of Community Affairs’ (DCA) imposition of 670 new affordable housing units by 2035, plus addressing a “present need” of 526 substandard units.
The legal action, lodged with the state’s Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program, follows a unanimous Township Council vote on January 29, rejecting the DCA’s figures as inflated and unrealistic.
Toms River Mayor Dan Rodrick said the Fair Share housing agreement is anything but fair. He said he and the residents of Toms River are tired of being told what they can and can’t build in their own town by Trenton bureaucrats.
“This isn’t just about numbers,” Rodrick said. “It’s about who gets to decide the future of our community.” As the legal battle unfolds, Toms River’s challenge could influence how affordable housing obligations are enforced statewide, highlighting tensions between state policy and municipal realities
“Fair Share is a stacked venue,” Mayor Rodrick added. “The organization is a nonprofit that is funded by builders. I feel that the number can only go down in court.”
He pointed to the fact that Toms River, under the previous administration had overdeveloped the town with thousands of high-density housing units that more than satifies the township’s need for those units.
The township’s suit contends that its obligation should be drastically lower—potentially as few as 114 units or even zero—based on an independent analysis by township planner Rick Hunt of Alaimo Group.
Hunt’s report, submitted as evidence, identifies errors in the state’s methodology, such as counting undevelopable land like wetlands, school fields, highway medians, and cemeteries as viable construction sites, ordering the town to build residential developments in their place.
Mayor Daniel Rodrick, a key proponent of the challenge, emphasized that Toms River has already exceeded past obligations, having facilitated over 1,250 affordable units under the prior administration against a requirement of 250. “We’ve done our part,” Rodrick stated. “The state’s numbers are based on fantasy, not facts.”
The controversy stems from New Jersey’s Mount Laurel Doctrine and a March 2024 law signed by Governor Phil Murphy, which set standardized affordable housing quotas for the fourth round (2025-2035). The DCA issued Toms River’s obligation in October 2024, prompting immediate pushback.
Township Attorney Christopher D. Zingaro of Rainone Coughlin Minchello, LLC, argued in the filing that recent case law caps municipal mandates at 1,000 units per cycle and that prior overperformance should offset new demands. The township also cites a proposed Fair Housing Act amendment, suggesting obligations be tied to certificates of occupancy rather than regional projections.
Council President Justin Lamb defended the township’s stance, calling the state’s approach “a one-size-fits-all overreach from Trenton” that disregards local zoning control. “We’re not opposed to affordable housing,” Lamb said, “but we need a number that makes sense for Toms River.”
The township points to Lavallette’s precedent, where a similar challenge slashed its obligation from 35 to 7 units after proving state miscalculations.
The lawsuit aligns with a broader rebellion among New Jersey municipalities. As of March, 160 of 446 participating towns have contested their DCA quotas, per the Fair Share Housing Center, while 286 have complied.
Toms River’s case, filed just before a March 31, deadline for judicial review under the new law, awaits mediation or a court ruling. Township officials remain defiant, framing their fight as a defense of local autonomy against what they describe as an arbitrary state mandate.
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