Lambertville, NJ — Lambertville received a decision last week from the Court on its affordable housing plan from Superior Court Judge Thomas C. Miller. The City, in reopening the court settlement, proposed to change its existing court-certified Affordable Housing Plan.

The existing plan gave the City protection from affordable housing litigation until 2025. This new action by the City administration has set in motion a series of costly projects, the burden of which will be borne by the taxpayers. This list includes moving our City Police Headquarters out of town to West Amwell at a building the city must rent and renovate; the sale of our historic buildings and the construction of an unnecessary Municipal Complex.

In response to the overwhelming citizen input to the court, Judge Miller retained jurisdiction over the affordable housing site that was created by the City by the proposed sale and relocation of the Lambertville Police Headquarters. Hearing the potential environmental concerns raised by our residents, the Judge has required the City to answer. He stated in his decision:

“… the Court recognizes that many of the “environmental issues” that were raised by the objectors may turn out to affect the developability of the Police Station site as proposed… The objectors have raised enough concern for this Court to find that it should retain jurisdiction over the matter so that as these issues are probed and explored during the development process, the Court will be able to ascertain whether facts revealed during the process undermine the viability and suitability of the development of affordable housing on the site.”

As the Judge released his decision Council Candidates Stegman and Lambert released the following statement:

“We are disturbed by the Mayor’s decision to return to court in the midst of a pandemic, particularly when we already had a court approved plan. As hardworking families continue to struggle and unemployment rises across New Jersey, the Governing Body continues to move forward with their costly plan, and our taxpayers foot the bill. Dismantling the existing plan did not create a better opportunity for affordable housing. Rather, it created more spending and unwarranted pet projects. If elected to City Council, we pledge to keep oversight of this issue, listen to our residents and be their voice to stop overdevelopment in Lambertville.”

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Steve Stegman and Benedetta Lambert are Democratic candidates for Lambertville City Council. For more information please contact them at: StegmanLambertforLambertville@gmail.com