Read the full stored bill text
S1836 SCS Statement 6/1/26
SENATE COMMUNITY AND URBAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
SENATE, No.
1836
STATE
OF NEW JERSEY
DATED:
�JUNE 1,
2026
����� The Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee
reports favorably a Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 1836.
����� As reported, this substitute, titled the �Yes in God�s
Backyard Act,� enhances the ability of religious and nonprofit organizations to
convert certain property to inclusionary developments with affordable housing
and establishes a Faith and Nonprofit Housing Development Assistance program
and fund.
����� The bill requires a municipality to permit the
conversion of certain eligible property, as defined in the bill and subject to
certain infrastructure requirements and environmental exceptions, into
inclusionary developments by certain eligible nonprofit and religious
organizations, subject to certain zoning, height, and density requirements.� A
development project approved pursuant to the bill is to be a permitted use and
is not to require a use variance.� The bill requires a municipal agency to
review an application for the development of an inclusionary development on an
eligible property for completeness within 45 days and act upon the application
within the applicable time requirement pursuant to the �Municipal Land Use Law�
(MLUL), except that the bill prohibits a municipal agency from imposing
additional requirements, unrelated to the provisions of the bill, that are not
required for other development applicants.� The bill authorizes an applicant
aggrieved by a final determination pursuant to the application process
established by the bill, or the failure of a municipal agency to comply with
the bill or with the Municipal Land Use Law, to seek an expedited mediation and
review through the Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program.
����� An eligible property only qualifies for the process
established by the bill if:
����� (1)� the eligible organization, as defined in the
bill, has been the owner of record of the eligible property for not less than
36 months, unless a circumstance for exception exists;
����� (2)� the applicant files with the municipal agency and
the HMFA a sworn statement disclosing all beneficial owners of, and all parties
holding any equity interest of 10 percent or more in, the proposed development
entity; and
����� (3)� all income-restricted units in the inclusionary
development are marketed, leased, and sold, as applicable, in accordance with
applicable selection laws and laws against discrimination, including the
Uniform Housing Affordability Controls (UHAC), the Law Against Discrimination,
and the bill.
����� The bill prohibits any tenancy or ownership preference
for members or congregants of a religious eligible organization or affiliates
of a nonprofit eligible organization.
����� A development project undertaken pursuant to the bill
is required to fulfill a minimum percent of income-restricted units
corresponding with the three tiers established by the bill.� The bill requires
at least 50 percent of the income-restricted units to be low-income units and
at least 13 percent of the income-restricted units to be very low-income
units.� The bill provides height and density allowances for a development
project undertaken pursuant to the bill based on the project�s affordability
tier, with an additional density bonus for an inclusionary development that
retains or expands community-serving uses, as defined by the bill.� The bill
also provides minimum parking requirements based on the proximity of the
property to certain public transit.� The bill establishes that the New Jersey
Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA), upon the expiration of the
affordability period, has the right of first refusal to acquire a property
converted into an inclusionary development pursuant to the bill.� The bill
requires a development project undertaken pursuant to the bill to comply with
UHAC, the MLUL, and all applicable Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
permit requirements.� The bill imposes additional requirements for the
continued provision of existing affordable housing and community-serving uses,
as defined in the bill.
����� The bill provides that a municipality is to receive
credits and bonus credits, as applicable, for income-restricted units
constructed pursuant to the bill that are fully compliant with UHAC.� A
municipality is to receive credits and bonus credits for the round next
following completion of construction and recording of the affordability
covenant.� The bill permits a municipality to include eligible properties as
components of its housing element and fair share plan.
����� The bill establishes the Faith and Nonprofit Housing
Development Assistance Fund (the fund) to provide certain loans, financing, and
other assistance, as specified in the bill.� The fund is also, through funds
not derived from bonds, to be used to administer the Faith and Nonprofit
Housing Development Assistance Program (the program).� A development project
undertaken pursuant to the bill is to be eligible for financing through the
fund based on its affordability tier.� The bill also provides that a Tier 3
project is to be eligible for priority access to 4-percent Low-Income Housing
Tax Credit allocations and tax-exempt bond volume cap and scoring preferences
in the Qualified Allocation Plan for the 9-percent Low-Income Housing Tax
Credit.� The bill requires the HMFA to report an annual report on certain
activities of the fund.
����� The bill establishes the fund in the HMFA to provide
technical and financial assistance to eligible organizations and their
development partners.� As part of the program, the HMFA is to:
����� (1)� provide technical assistance to eligible
organizations for development projects to be undertaken pursuant to the bill;
����� (2)� maintain a registry of qualified affordable
housing development partners;
����� (3)� publish a model joint venture agreement, model
ground lease, and model long-term affordability covenant for use by program
participants; and
����� (4)� award pre-development grants and recoverable
pre-development loans for costs incurred in advancing a development project
undertaken pursuant to the bill, subject to certain maximums and priorities.
����� The bill appropriates $50 million from the General
Fund to the fund in the HMFA to be used over the course of the five years next
following the enactment of the bill to administer the program.� The bill
additionally authorizes the HMFA to issue bonds in an amount not exceeding $250
million for the purposes of the fund, excluding the program.� The bill directs
the HMFA, in consultation with the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), to
adopt specified rules and regulations to effectuate the provisions of the
bill.� The bill additionally directs the DEP, in consultation with the HMFA and
the DCA, to adopt rules and regulations to designate undeveloped contiguous
forested areas not less than five acres for the purposes of defining
�environmentally protected area,� and �wetland buffer areas,� with certain area
maximums, which designations exclude a property from being an eligible property
for development pursuant to the bill.� The bill is to take effect immediately.