Where do I stand on development in Berkeley Heights?

Growth has to be tied to what our infrastructure, schools, roads, water, and sewer can actually carry. Berkeley Heights has legal affordable-housing obligations it must meet — the question the Council controls is how we meet them, and that choice decides how much total construction this town absorbs.

What is Berkeley Heights actually required to build?

New Jersey is in the Fourth Round of affordable-housing obligations (2025–2035). A court order entered April 14, 2025 fixed Berkeley Heights’ obligation at a Present Need of 0 and a Prospective Need of 240 affordable-housing credits. Because state law caps bonus credits at 25% of the obligation — at most 60 here — at least 180 real affordable homes must actually exist in town by 2035.

Why does the path we choose matter so much?

If the town met its 180-unit affordable obligation entirely through standard “inclusionary” projects at a 15–20% set-aside, that alone would imply roughly 900 apartments — four to six market-rate units for every affordable one. Delivered through 100% affordable projects instead, the same obligation is closer to 180 total homes. That difference is the ballgame for traffic, school capacity, drainage, and the feel of this town. Since 2020, downtown redevelopment has added or is set to add more than 725 new households near the core of Berkeley Heights (Real Estate NJ, January 23, 2024); the Township’s adopted Fourth Round plan currently totals 804 units.

My plan

  • Affordable-only first. Use 100% affordable projects, group homes, and deed-restricted tools before approving inclusionary projects that multiply market-rate construction.
  • Keep the committed affordable project moving. The Township has committed to a 100% affordable project on Snyder Avenue. It needs to stay on schedule, with public status reports — drift there becomes market-rate apartments somewhere else.
  • Guardrails before the next big site. Nokia Bell Labs is relocating its historic Murray Hill campus by 2028. No redevelopment designation or rezoning of that site before zoning guardrails and public benefit are locked in.
  • Plan for Round 5 now. The state recalculates our obligation around 2034 based on the land inventory that exists then. Every acre we pave carelessly today becomes tomorrow’s obligation.