Politics

The West Orange town council passed a resolution this week to designate an office park an “area in need of redevelopment.” The 4-1 vote stands at odds with the wave of public criticism during the meeting against the designation, which paves the way for a windfall tax abatement.

The decision to extend an agreement with a controversial Federal agency that houses undocumented immigrants at a county jail has churned up a lot of emotions between activists and local officials.

The Fair Share Housing Center is asking the courts to throw out legislation that the City Council approved this summer, arguing that it was enacted illegally and “gives a pass to politically connected developers.”

An old police station on Lincoln Avenue in Orange was expected to be sold for $1.2 million to a developer so that a project with 60 condominiums could be constructed. Now, the Orange Municipal Council is seeking to revoke the contract of sale and more.

A group partially run by New York’s former Governor will soon be presenting plans for a 386-unit mixed use development.

The council voted 7-2 to introduce a 20 percent affordable housing requirement on all new developments over 15 units, but amendments looking to eliminate several carve-outs in the law were rejected for now.

The co-founder of the Jersey City Reservoir Preservation Alliance who has spent 15 years working with locals and community groups is hoping to represent The Heights on the city council.

After months of discussion and modifications, a compromise that will lessen the financial impact of controversial mobile vendor fees appears to have been reached.

The state has opened a lottery program to aid tenants that have been impacted by the coronavirus and those interested have two weeks to enroll.

The state’s Assembly approved a bill that could give emergency rental assistance to tenants financially impacted by the coronavirus, which will now head to Governor Murphy’s desk.