Barnegat Light borough has circumvented its affordable housing obligation by adding a housing element to its master plan – to the tune of $17,000 for professional guidance – “to prove we live in a flood zone,” as Council President and finance committee chair Michael Spark put it. A state formula would have required the town to have a certain number of affordable units, but environmental factors make it a nonstarter.

So, in this month’s list of resolutions at the June 11 council meeting, one was to endorse the new housing element and…