A New Jersey appeals court on July 28 upheld the validity of the city of Hoboken's affordable-housing ordinance, which requires homebuilders to designate at least 10 percent of their houses available to low- and middle-income buyers.

The three-judge Appellate Division panel, in a published decision, overturned a trial judge's ruling that declared the city's ordinance “null, void and unenforceable.”

Appellate Division Judge Jose Fuentes, joined by Judges Victor Ashrafi and John Kennedy, said Hoboken's city council acted within its rights when it adopted the affordable-housing ordinance in 1988. The council acted in response to increasing costs of living in the affluent Hudson County city.