Hills Dev. Co. v. Township of Bernards
Supreme Court of New Jersey
103 N.J. 1 (N.J. 1986)
New Jersey passed the Fair Housing Act in 1986 in response to the Mount Laurel decision requiring municipalities to provide their fair share of lower-income housing, creating a Council on Affordable Housing empowered to assess regional housing needs, set municipal fair-share guidelines, determine compliance, and use various tools to induce municipalities to comply, with court review of Council determinations limited to clear and convincing evidence of noncompliance. The Act's constitutionality was challenged in court, with critics arguing the Council's deliberative process would delay satisfying municipalities' existing constitutional housing obligations.
Whether the Fair Housing Act is constitutional even though it may result in some delay in satisfying the constitutional obligation to provide lower-income housing.