Affordable housing

Branchburg's Fourth Round affordable-housing plan

Branchburg's 2025–2035 affordable-housing obligation is 255 new units with zero rehabilitation need, settled with Fair Share Housing Center and certified by a Superior Court order of April 15, 2026 in docket SOM-L-142-25. The plan meets it with 208 units plus 63.5 bonus credits; all four mechanisms, including the Evans Way and Vollers inclusionary projects, are still listed as proposed. The Committee adopted the implementing ordinances and resolutions on March 9, 2026, each 5–0.

Checked against the primary record on . Every figure on this page is sourced at the foot of the article.

Compliance certified by court order; monitoring through June 30, 2035 Last moved

What happens next

The Township must make yearly Affordable Housing Monitoring System entries by each February 15; the order provides for a realistic-opportunity review as of July 1, 2030. The Evans Way/KRE and Vollers/Premier projects each still need Planning Board site-plan approval, with public hearings.

Every New Jersey town had to set its affordable-housing obligation for 2025–2035, the “Fourth Round,” and adopt a plan and zoning to meet it. Branchburg’s case is docket SOM-L-142-25, In the Matter of the Application of the Township of Branchburg, County of Somerset, before Judge William G. Mennen in Somerset County; court file stamps read SOM-L-000142-25.

The numbers. Branchburg’s obligation is 255 new affordable homes (prospective need); its rehabilitation share (present need) is 0. The Committee first committed to 247 in Resolution 2025-45 on January 27, 2025 — the state’s October 18, 2024 advisory estimate was 297. The Planning Board’s June 2025 resolution later recited the recalculation as 248, a figure not in the January resolution. Fair Share Housing Center and the New Jersey Builders Association objected; the March 24, 2025 settlement (Resolution 2025-70) set the obligation at 255.

The plan. The Planning Board adopted the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan on June 24, 2025 (Resolution PB 2025-018, seven ayes, two absent), and the Committee endorsed it the next day at a special meeting (Resolution 2025-124, 4–0 under Mayor Thomas Young; Mr. Brendon Beatrice was absent). It provides 208 units plus 63.5 bonus credits against the 255-unit obligation and seven carried Third Round units, through four mechanisms: extensions of affordability controls on 74 units at Whiton Hills, a 400-unit inclusionary project at Evans Way with 80 affordable units, a 250-unit inclusionary project at Vollers/Premier with 50 affordable credits, and four supportive/special-needs bedrooms at 147 Stony Brook Road.

The zoning. On December 8, 2025 the Committee authorized the Township to sign a consent order for conditional compliance (Resolution 2025-218, 5–0); the court entered it January 8, 2026. The Committee introduced three ordinances on February 9, 2026, all five members in favor: Ordinance 2026-1507 creating the AH-8 zone for the Vollers/Premier site, Ordinance 2026-1508 adopting the amended Evans Way redevelopment plan, and Ordinance 2026-1509 replacing the affordable-housing and development-fee rules. The Planning Board reviewed each for Master Plan consistency the next day (Resolutions PB 2026-010, -011 and -012, each 7–0). On March 9, 2026 the Committee adopted all three, each 5–0 with no public comment, and on its consent agenda, also 5–0, adopted Resolutions 2026-64 (affirmative marketing plan), 2026-65 (spending plan), 2026-66 (Whiton Hills extension of affordability controls) and 2026-67 (an amended redevelopment and affordable housing agreement with S/K Stoney Brook Associates). Township counsel filed the instruments with the court on March 13, 2026.

In court. On April 15, 2026 the court approved the plan and entered a Consent Order Final Compliance Certification, effective July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2035, with retained jurisdiction and annual monitoring. The order lists all four mechanisms as proposed: the certification is not a record that the homes have been built. The court’s credit totals (272 credits, 64 bonuses, a 10-credit surplus) differ by half a credit from the plan’s (271.5, 63.5, 9.5); no record explains the difference. On March 9, Township Attorney William Willard said that once the remaining agreements are executed the developers can bring their applications to the Planning Board or Zoning Board; Derek Orth, counsel for KRE, said the Evans Way project would take about 24 to 36 months from breaking ground. A carried-over Third Round project, the nine-unit, 100% affordable Mitras Realty (formerly Genesis Capital) building at 1100–1104 Route 28, was heard by the Board of Adjustment on April 15, 2026 and carried to July 15 without a vote.

What residents can do. Planning Board site-plan hearings for the Evans Way and Vollers sites, if filed, are public hearings where residents may speak; the Board meets the second and fourth Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. Court filings are posted on the NJ Courts Somerset affordable-housing page. Corrections to this page can be emailed to info@localwhy.org.

The housing plan, explained

Timeline

Each dated event on this issue, oldest first, linked to the full sourced entry.

  1. Resolved Township Committee adopts a Fourth Round obligation of 247 unitsResolution 2025-45 committed Branchburg to 0 present-need (rehabilitation) units and 247 prospective-need units for 2025–2035. The state's October 18, 2024 advisory estimate had been 297; two later Township records recite the recalculation as 248. The Township filed the action in docket SOM-L-142-25 the next day.
  2. Resolved Settlement with Fair Share Housing Center sets the obligation at 255 unitsResolution 2025-70, adopted March 24, 2025, authorized a mediation agreement with Fair Share Housing Center settling Branchburg's Fourth Round obligation at 0 present-need and 255 prospective-need units. The New Jersey Builders Association wrote that it had no intention of objecting to or appealing the settlement. Mr. Schworn, Mrs. Columbus, Mr. Owens and Mayor Thomas Young voted yes; Mr. Beatrice was absent.
  3. Resolved Planning Board adopts the Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share PlanAfter a public hearing at which Board Planner Kendra Lelie presented the plan and no member of the public commented, the Planning Board adopted the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan by Resolution PB 2025-018: 208 units plus 63.5 bonus credits — 271.5 credits — against a 255-unit obligation plus seven carried Third Round units. The vote was seven ayes, two absent.
  4. Resolved Township Committee endorses the plan at a special meeting (Resolution 2025-124)At a 9:05 a.m. special meeting, Resolution 2025-124 endorsed the adopted Housing Element and Fair Share Plan one day after the Planning Board adoption, 4–0: Mayor Thomas Young, Mr. James Schworn, Mrs. Anna Columbus and Mr. David Owens voted yes; Mr. Brendon Beatrice was absent.
  5. Milestone Court grants conditional compliance, requiring the AH-8 zoning ordinanceJudge William G. Mennen entered a Consent Order Conditional Compliance Certification requiring the Township to adopt a new AH-8 zoning ordinance for the Vollers/Premier site, as the Township's March 13, 2026 filing recites. The Township Committee had authorized the Township to execute the consent order on December 8, 2025 (Resolution 2025-218, 5–0). The order is incorporated by reference in the April 15, 2026 final order.
  6. Resolved Committee adopts the AH-8 zone for the Vollers/Premier site, 5–0Ordinance 2026-1507, introduced February 9, 2026 and adopted March 9, 2026, creates the Route 22 Affordable Housing 8 zone for the Vollers/Premier inclusionary project: up to 250 dwellings with 50 affordable credits. Mr. Thomas Young, Mrs. Anna Columbus, Mr. David Owens, Mr. Brendon Beatrice and Mayor James Schworn voted yes. The same night the Committee adopted Ordinance 2026-1509 and Resolutions 2026-64 to -67, each 5–0.
  7. Pending Board of Adjustment hears a nine-unit affordable building at 1100–1104 Route 28; carriedThe Board of Adjustment heard Mitras Realty's (formerly Genesis Capital) site plan and subdivision application (case 2019-006A PFSP/PFSUB) for a three-story, nine-unit, 100% affordable apartment building at 1100–1104 Route 28, a Third Round project carried into the Township's Fourth Round plan. The case was carried to July 15, 2026 without a vote.
  8. Milestone Court certifies Branchburg's Fourth Round complianceThe Superior Court entered a Consent Order Final Compliance Certification in docket SOM-L-142-25: the HEFSP was approved, the Fourth Round obligation set at 255 prospective-need units and 0 present-need units, and the certification granted for July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2035 with retained jurisdiction. The order lists all four Fourth Round mechanisms as proposed.

Explainers

  • Branchburg's Fourth Round Housing Plan, Explained: 255 Units and the April 15, 2026 Order

    What Branchburg's 2025–2035 affordable-housing numbers mean, how the obligation was settled with Fair Share Housing Center, which mechanisms the plan counts, what the court certified on April 15, 2026, how the Committee and Planning Board adopted the implementing ordinances and resolutions, and where the record's figures disagree, with each discrepancy set side by side.

Documents

The township's own records on this issue. Each links to the official copy.

Meetings

  • Board of Adjustment — April 15, 2026

    The Board heard Mitras Realty's (formerly Genesis Capital) site plan and subdivision application for a nine-unit, 100% affordable apartment building at 1100–1104 Route 28, part of the Township's affordable-housing plans; the case was carried to July 15, 2026 without a vote. The Board adopted a resolution memorializing the withdrawal without prejudice of a case at 976 Old York Road, 7–0.

  • Township Committee — March 9, 2026

    The Committee adopted the three Fourth Round affordable-housing ordinances, each 5–0 with no public comment: Ordinance 2026-1507 (the AH-8 Route 22 zone), Ordinance 2026-1508 (the amended Evans Way redevelopment plan) and Ordinance 2026-1509 (affordable-housing and development fees). Its consent agenda, passed 5–0, adopted the Fourth Round affirmative marketing and spending plans, the Whiton Hills affordability extension and an amended redevelopment and affordable housing agreement with S/K Stoney Brook Associates.

  • Planning Board — February 10, 2026

    The Planning Board reviewed the Township's three Fourth Round affordable-housing ordinances for consistency with the Master Plan and adopted Resolutions PB 2026-010, -011 and -012 on Ordinances 2026-1507 (the AH-8 zone), 2026-1508 (the amended Evans Way plan) and 2026-1509 (affordable-housing and development fees), each 7–0. It also memorialized a supplemental resolution for AAVLBR Property, LLC on Industrial Parkway, 4–0.

  • Township Committee — February 9, 2026

    The Committee introduced three Fourth Round affordable-housing ordinances, all five members in favor of each: Ordinance 2026-1507 (the AH-8 Route 22 zone), Ordinance 2026-1508 (the amended Evans Way redevelopment plan) and Ordinance 2026-1509 (new affordable-housing and development-fee rules), with hearings set for March 9. A consent agenda including emergency temporary appropriations passed 5–0. The Health Officer presented the 2025 Health Department annual report.

  • Township Committee — January 5, 2026

    At its 2026 reorganization, re-elected members Thomas Young and David Owens were sworn in for terms to 2028, and the Committee chose James Schworn as Mayor and Brendon Beatrice as Deputy Mayor, each 5–0. In his remarks, Mayor Schworn said he will not support further development until the impact of current growth is understood. The Committee adopted Resolutions 2026-01 through 2026-28, including the 2026 temporary budget and professional appointments, and confirmed board appointments, all 5–0.

  • Township Committee — December 8, 2025

    The Committee held the public hearing on Comcast's application to renew its cable franchise; the Township Attorney said the next step is an ordinance setting the renewal terms. It authorized, 5–0 on the consent agenda, execution of the court consent order granting conditional compliance for the Fourth Round affordable-housing plan, agreed to sell Township land at 200 Harlan School Road, and introduced a $600,000 capital ordinance for Municipal Building improvements.

Sources for this overview

  1. Resolution 2025-45 (obligation of 0 / 247), January 27, 2025
  2. Resolution 2025-70 (settlement of 0 / 255), March 24, 2025
  3. Planning Board Resolution PB 2025-018 (HEFSP adoption), June 24, 2025
  4. Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan (filed June 25, 2025)
  5. Resolution 2025-124 (Committee endorsement), June 25, 2025
  6. Implementing ordinances and resolutions filed in SOM-L-142-25, March 13, 2026
  7. Consent Order Final Compliance Certification, April 15, 2026
  8. Township Committee special meeting minutes, June 25, 2025 (Documents-On-Demand, via the Agendas/Minutes page)
  9. Township Committee minutes, December 8, 2025 (Documents-On-Demand, via the Agendas/Minutes page)
  10. Township Committee minutes, February 9 and March 9, 2026 (Documents-On-Demand, via the Agendas/Minutes page)
  11. Planning Board minutes, February 10, 2026 (Documents-On-Demand, via the Agendas/Minutes page)
  12. Board of Adjustment minutes, April 15, 2026 (Documents-On-Demand, via the Agendas/Minutes page)
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