Plan for Abolition of Council, 38 A.3d 620

COAH was created as an independent, in but not of the Department of Community Affairs to implement the Mount Laurel affordable-housing mandate.
COAH’s 12-member board included elected officials, housing-need representatives, a nonprofit builder, a disabled-advocacy member, a for-profit builder, and public-interest members with term protections and removal procedures.
The Governor issued Executive Order No. 12 (2010) reviewing COAH; EO No. 20 rescinded EO 12 (2010).
Legislation to abolish COAH (Senate Bill No. 1) failed after conditional veto; the plan here is the Governor’s reorganization plan 001-2011 abolishing COAH and transferring duties to the DCA Commissioner.
The Governor argued the plan would reduce costs and consolidate affordable-housing responsibilities under a single regulatory body within the DCA.
Fair Share Housing Center challenged the Governor’s plan, arguing the Reorganization Act does not permit abolition of an independent, in but not of agency like COAH.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether COAH is outside the Act’s reach as an 'in but not of' agency	COAH is in but not of the DCA; thus outside the Reorganization Act.	COAH is an agency within the Executive Branch and thus within the Act’s reach.	COAH is not subject to the Reorganization Act; abolition invalid.

Mount Laurel II, 92 N.J. 158 (1983) (constitutional obligation to provide affordable housing)
Mount Laurel I, 67 N.J. 151 (1975) (Mount Laurel doctrine foundation)
CWA v. Florio, 130 N.J. 439 (1992) (separation of powers and executive power framework)
Brown v. Heymann, 62 N.J. 1 (1972) (uphold of reorganization power and executive authority limits)
In re Salaries for Probation Officers, 58 N.J. 422 (1971) (flexible separation-of-powers principles)