Christie Nominates New DCA Commissioner
By: Henry T. Chou, Esq.
Governor Christie has nominated Lori Grifa as the next Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs (DCA). Grifa, a resident of Montclair, is currently a partner in the government and regulatory affairs group at Wolff Samson, and was previously a prosecutor in New York and Chief of Staff to former New Jersey Attorney General David Samson. Ms. Grifa is subject to confirmation by the New Jersey Senate.
Christie's nomination of Ms. Grifa may signal a new direction for DCA, at least as to the future of its sub-agency, the New Jesey Council on Affordable Housing (COAH). Ms. Grifa represented the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP) in a recent appeals by numerous parties challenging COAH rules imposing an affordable housing obligation on residential and commercial developers. The appeals, which resuled in the Appellate Division's invalidation of certain COAH rules, have focused scrutiny on COAH and spurred, among other things, legislators to introduce bills proposing to abolish COAH.