Upper Township City Zoning Code

The municipality shall adopt, by resolution, an Affirmative Marketing Plan, subject to approval of the Superior Court, compliant with N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.16, as may be amended and supplemented.

The Affirmative Marketing Plan is a regional marketing strategy designed to attract buyers and/or renters of all majority and minority groups, regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, English-speaking ability, marital or familial status, gender, affectional or sexual orientation, disability, age (except for "housing for older persons" as defined at N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 et seq., and age-restricted units as permitted pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.), number of children, source of lawful income, or any other characteristic described in the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 through 50, to housing units which are being marketed by a developer, sponsor or owner of affordable housing. The Affirmative Marketing Plan is intended to target those potentially eligible persons who are least likely to apply for affordable units in that region. It is a continuing program that directs all marketing activities toward Housing Region 6 and is required to be followed throughout the period of deed restriction.

The Affirmative Marketing Plan provides the following preferences, provided that units that remain unoccupied after these preferences are exhausted may be offered to households without regard to these preferences.

The municipality has the ultimate responsibility for adopting the Affirmative Marketing Plan and for the proper administration of the Affirmative Marketing Process, including the marketing of initial sales and rentals and resales and re-rentals. The Administrative Agent designated by the municipality shall implement the Affirmative Marketing Process to ensure the Affirmative Marketing of all affordable units, with the exception of affordable programs that are exempt from Affirmative Marketing as noted herein.

The Affirmative Marketing Process shall describe the media to be used in advertising and publicizing the availability of housing. In implementing the Affirmative Marketing Process, the Administrative Agent should consider the use of language translations where appropriate.

Applications for affordable housing or notices thereof, if offered online, shall be available in several locations, including, at a minimum, the County Administration Building and/or the County Library for each county within the housing region; the municipal administration building and municipal library in the municipality in which the units are located; and the developer's rental or sales office. The developer shall mail applications to prospective applicants upon request and shall make applications available through a secure online website address.

In addition to other Affirmative Marketing strategies, the Administrative Agent shall provide specific notice of the availability of affordable housing units on the New Jersey Housing Resource Center website. The Township may add a list of community and regional organizations to receive notice of the availability of affordable housing units in addition to the following required entities: Fair Share Housing Center, the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP, the Latino Action Network, the Mainland/Pleasantville, Mizpah, Atlantic City, and Cape May County Branches of the NAACP, and the Supportive Housing Alliance. Any other entities, including developers or persons or companies retained to implement the Affirmative Marketing Process, shall comply with this paragraph.

In implementing the Affirmative Marketing Process, the Administrative Agent shall provide a list of HUD-certified housing counselors or otherwise experienced entities approved by the Division providing counseling services on subjects such as budgeting, credit issues, mortgage qualification, rental lease requirements, and landlord/tenant law.

The Affirmative Marketing Process for available affordable units shall begin at least four months (120 days) prior to the expected date of occupancy and may begin before construction commences. For owner-occupied units, affirmative marketing advertising and outreach activities must continue until all of the marketed units have been sold, except that paid advertising may cease when the number of applications received is at least three times the number of units to be sold. For rental units, affirmative marketing advertising and outreach activities must continue, as long as applications are being accepted, except that paid advertising may cease when the number of applications received is at least three times the number of units to be filled.

Applications must be accepted for no less than 45 days following the initial advertisement on the New Jersey Housing Resource Center, except for the resale of owner-occupied units, in which case, applications must be accepted for no less than 30 days.

The cost to affirmatively market the affordable units shall be the responsibility of the developer, sponsor or owner, with the exception of Affirmative Marketing for resales.