Articles Affordable housing
Bernards' Fourth Round Housing Plan, Explained: 24, 198 and the Court's Certification
What Bernards' 2025-2035 affordable-housing numbers mean, how 198 was reached, how the plan meets it, the zoning and votes behind it, the court's 2026 certification, Ridge Oak IV and the trust fund, with the records' differing dates set side by side.
The short version
- 198 is the number of new affordable homes Bernards must plan for between 2025 and 2035 (the “Prospective Need”).
- 24 is a separate target: existing homes to rehabilitate (the “Present Need”). Fifteen done since 2019 count toward it, leaving 9.
- The plan counts 209.5 credits toward the 198, mostly from Westgate Village and Ridge Oak IV.
- The court certified the plan in April 2026, with repose from builder’s-remedy suits to June 30, 2035.
The case is In the Matter of the Application of the Township of Bernards, docket SOM-L-157-25, before Judge William G. Mennen, J.S.C., in Somerset County. The township filed it on Jan. 29, 2025.
How the obligation was set
| Date | Step | Vote or source |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 18, 2024 | The state’s estimate (DCA report): 24 present and 218 prospective | Recital in Res. #2025-0107 |
| Jan. 20, 2025 | Affordable-housing planner Kendra Lelie (Kyle + McManus) finds the state’s land-capacity data “overinclusive” and computes 171 | Memo attached to Res. #2025-0107 |
| Jan. 28, 2025 | Res. #2025-0107 commits to 24 and seeks 171; reserves the right to adjust its position “should it participate under the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act” | Township Committee |
| Feb. 28, 2025 | Fair Share Housing Center objects and asks for 225; the New Jersey Builders Association also challenges | Res. #2025-0195 recitals; court order |
| March 25, 2025 | Res. #2025-0195 approves a mediation agreement with Fair Share Housing Center at 198 | 3-2: aye McNally, Tancredi, Fields; nay Asay, Duarte McCarthy |
| April 8, 2025 | The court sets 24 and 198; no party appeals | Final court order |
The minutes of March 25, 2025 list 26 public speakers on affordable housing, the Ridge Oak and Westgate sites and the Highlands. They record no statements of reasons by members on the 3-2 vote.
Earlier rounds, as the court’s final order states them: a Prior Round obligation of 508 and a Third Round obligation of 873.
The plan
The Planning Board adopted the 2025 Housing Plan Element and Fair Share Plan on May 20, 2025, 8-0, after a hearing with one public speaker. The Committee endorsed it on May 27, 2025, and the township filed it with the court on May 22, 2025, the court order says. The plan’s Table 3:
| Project | Type | Units | Bonus | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridge Oak IV, 95 Manchester Drive | 100% affordable, age-restricted rentals | 29 | 29 | |
| Westgate Village, 477 Martinsville Road | Inclusionary family rentals; redevelopment of an office site | 115 | 45.5 | 160.5 |
| Our House, 399 Mt. Airy Road | Supportive and special-needs group home | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Braemar Partners, 3066 Valley Road | Assisted living (surplus) | 10 | 10 | |
| 18 Columbia Road | Family rental (surplus) | 1 | 1 | |
| Crown Court II | Family rental (surplus) | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 160 | 49.5 | 209.5 (surplus 11.5) |
Braemar’s count. Table 3 lists 10 assisted-living credits at 3066 Valley Road; the plan’s text heads the same project “9 of 10 beds.”
The endorsement’s number. The May 27, 2025 minutes and the court filing give Res. #2025-0233; the Feb. 24, 2026 spending-plan resolution refers to “Resolution #2025-0246.” LocalWhy has not found a record that reconciles the two numbers.
The zoning
| Ordinance | What it does | Adopted |
|---|---|---|
| #2573 | SH-4 Senior Housing Zone at 95 Manchester Drive for Ridge Oak IV (up to 29 units); a site plan may not be filed until Ridge Oak’s existing units get at least 30 more years of affordability controls | April 15, 2025, 4-1 (Asay nay) |
| #2575 | MX-1 Westgate Village Mixed Use Zone at 477 Martinsville Road: up to 574 family rental units, at least 115 affordable, plus a hotel and non-residential space | April 15, 2025, 4-1 (Asay nay) |
| #2593 | Adds Code § 21-87 so the state’s new Fourth Round rules govern where older housing sections conflict | March 10, 2026, 4-0 (Asay, Hodges, McNally, Duarte McCarthy) |
The Planning Board had found #2573 and #2575 not consistent with the 2023 Master Plan (March 18, 2025). Township Attorney John Belardo said a protest petition had been received on #2573, so it needed four votes. In Res. #2025-0213 (4-1, Asay nay) the Committee gave its reasons for adopting #2573 despite the Board’s finding, citing the 198-unit obligation and the 2018 Third Round settlement with Fair Share Housing Center, which anticipated a future Ridge Oak project of 24 to 36 units. The April 15, 2025 minutes list 20 speakers at the #2573 hearing and 4 at the #2575 hearing. No one spoke on #2593.
The court’s certification
The court’s Consent Order Final Compliance Certification, on the joint request of the township and Fair Share Housing Center, is stamped April 15, 2026 and filed April 17, 2026. It:
- approves the plan as meeting the “objective standard” of the Fair Housing Act and the Mount Laurel doctrine;
- grants a Compliance Certification for July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2035, with repose from exclusionary-zoning litigation, “including, but not limited to, Builder’s Remedy lawsuits”;
- requires yearly reports to the state’s monitoring system, starting Feb. 15, 2026, on trust-fund money and on units built;
- allows a midpoint realistic-opportunity review as of July 1, 2030, in which “the Township or other interested party” may seek review of any inclusionary site without preliminary site plan approval.
The conditional order’s date. Before the final order, the court issued a conditional order setting what the township had to adopt by March 2026. The records date it differently:
| Record | Date given |
|---|---|
| Final court order (filed April 17, 2026) | The parties “entered into a consent order on December 17, 2025” |
| Notice of introduction of Ord. #2593 (Feb. 11, 2026) | Judge Mennen issued the conditional order “on December 19, 2025” |
| Res. #2026-0160 (Feb. 10, 2026 minutes); Ord. #2593 as adopted (March 10, 2026 minutes; notice of March 11) | “January 8, 2026” |
LocalWhy has not seen the conditional order itself.
Steps the Committee took to meet the conditions:
- Jan. 6, 2026: Susan Long appointed 2026 Municipal Housing Liaison.
- Feb. 10, 2026: Affirmative Marketing Plan adopted (Res. #2026-0160, 5-0); Ord. #2593 introduced.
- Feb. 24, 2026: Fourth Round Spending Plan adopted (Res. #2026-0177, 5-0), and an affordable-housing agreement with Ridge Oak approved (Res. #2026-0189, 5-0).
- March 10, 2026: Ord. #2593 adopted, 4-0.
Ridge Oak
The existing units. Ridge Oak’s 247 age-restricted units at 150 Manchester Drive were built in the 1970s as a federally subsidized project for the elderly; the federal assistance contract runs to Oct. 31, 2032. Under Res. #2026-0189 the units stay affordable for 40 more years, Nov. 1, 2032 to Oct. 31, 2072; the township says it intends to use these controls toward a future (Fifth Round) obligation. The agreement satisfies Ord. #2573’s condition for a Ridge Oak IV site plan.
The tax agreement. On June 23, 2026 the Committee approved a second amendment to Ridge Oak’s 1976 tax abatement agreement, under which Ridge Oak pays the township 6.28% of annual gross revenues in lieu of property taxes. The agreement was to expire Aug. 17, 2026; the amendment extends it 40 years (Res. #2026-0301, consent agenda, 4-0).
Ridge Oak IV (PB26-001). A two-story building of 29 one-bedroom affordable senior units at 95 Manchester Drive, with 39 parking spaces; 26 trees removed and 78 planted. The Planning Board heard it April 7, May 5 and May 19, 2026 and approved it on May 19, 7-0 (Agarwal, Eorio, Mastrangelo, Seville, Smith, Subervi, Tompkins; Schaefer ineligible), memorializing it July 21. On Oct. 6, 2026 the Board appointed a construction routing and timing committee. The plan anticipated construction starting in fall 2027.
Our House and Westgate
- Our House: on April 15, 2025 the Committee authorized up to $200,000 from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund toward a four-bedroom group home for adults with developmental disabilities at 399 Mt. Airy Road, with a 40-year deed restriction (Res. #2025-0211, 5-0).
- Westgate Village: zoned in April 2025. No site plan application for 477 Martinsville Road appears in the Planning Board or Zoning Board minutes LocalWhy reviewed through Oct. 6, 2026.
What is not known
- The spending plan’s figures and the trust-fund balance; the plan is attached to Res. #2026-0177 and has not been reviewed by LocalWhy.
- Whether the township has filed the yearly reports the court order requires.
- How many of the remaining 9 rehabilitation units have been completed.
- When, and by whom, a Westgate Village site plan will be filed.
What residents can do
- Site-plan hearings. Westgate Village, when filed, will be heard by the Planning Board at a noticed public hearing.
- The 2030 review. The court order lets “other interested party” seek a midpoint review as of July 1, 2030.
- The record. The plan is on the township’s maps and plans page; the court filings are on the NJ Courts Somerset affordable-housing page.