17-21 Exhibit - Endorsing the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan adopted by the West Orange Planning Board and Authorizing Public.pdf

WEST ORANGE TOWNSHIP ESSEX COUNTY HOUSING ELEMENT PREFACE West Orange Township is situated in the central portion of Essex County and contains approximately 12.15 square miles or 7,776 acres of land. West Orange is crossed east-west by Interstate Route 280 which provides travelers with easy access to the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. Thomas Alva Edison became a resident of West Orange in 1886. In the early 1900s, Edison Industries concentrated on developments in phonograph, film, storage batteries and visual devices. West Orange was the location of the first motion picture, the Great Train Robbery, in 1903. Seventeen hundred films were produced in the area prior to 1930. Edison Industries continued to be a drawing force until 1929 when the great depression caused the market for phonographs and records to fall sharply. _ Edison retired as head of Thomas A. Edison Incorporated in 1930 and was succeeded by his son, Charles. In the period following Ward War II, West Orange continued to develop. Its population grew rapidly during the post-war “baby boom,” reaching a peak in 1970. Then, as the regional economy weakened and the “baby boom” generation matured, the population declined. Today, West Orange is primarily a residential community with a large commuting population. Investment, bank, insurance and service firms have replaced most of the manufacturing firms. The township borders on nine municipalities. These include Montclair, Verona, Essex Fells, Roseland, Livingston, Millburn, Maplewood, South Orange and Orange. West Orange received second round substantive certification from the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) on October 11, 1995 that was extended to December 20, 2005 by COAH on February 9, 2005. In addition, West Orange received third round substantive certification from COAH on December 9, 2009. Unfortunately, the rules upon which substantive certification was based were declared invalid by the Court. A municipality's Housing Element must be designed to achieve the goal of providing affordable housing to meet the total 1987-2025 affordable housing need comprised of Prospective Need, Prior Round Obligation and Present Need (Rehabilitation Share). The regulations of COAH and the Fair Housing Act delineate a municipality's strategy for addressing its present and prospective housing needs, and, as such, each municipality's

(Rehabilitation Share). The regulations of COAH and the Fair Housing Act delineate a municipality's strategy for addressing its present and prospective housing needs, and, as such, each municipality's Housing Element must contain the following: