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). Berkeley Heights’ obligation was fixed by a court order on April 14, 2025: 240 affordable-housing credits. Bonus credits can cover at most 60 of those, which means at least 180 real affordable homes must exist in town by 2035.

Why does the path we choose matter so much?

When affordable units are delivered inside standard “inclusionary” projects with a 15–20% set-aside, every affordable unit pulls four to six market-rate units along with it — roughly 900 total apartments to satisfy 180 credits. 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, more than 755 residences have already been built here through inclusionary redevelopment (Real Estate NJ, January 25, 2024).

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. Bell Labs departs its Berkeley Heights campus by 2028. No redevelopment designation or rezoning there 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.