Timeline

At the Sept. 1 hearing, the applicant’s attorney, Michael E. Silbert, described the property (Block 9.02, Lot 28, I-1 zone) as a corner lot of about 9.95 acres with an existing single-story building of about 83,000 square feet, and said the plan, once 70% recreation and 30% light industry, is now 100% recreational, needing a D(1) use variance. Two tenants, Soccer World and Onkar Ventures (Yugo Sports Arena), had signed leases. The site plan shows 124 parking spaces and a banked-parking plan adding 49; the Board’s traffic consultant, Jay Troutman, said the facility “absolutely needs” all 170 spaces. The Board unanimously carried the case to Dec. 1, 2026 without further notice, with the time to act extended to Dec. 31, so the applicant could provide a comprehensive parking plan, including ADA parking, and a fully developed site plan.

The continued-hearing notice, published Oct. 26, 2026, describes the roughly 433,510-square-foot tract and a revised plan of interior fit-outs of building units A–H for indoor recreational, fitness, wellness and athletic-training uses, with parking, driveway and stormwater improvements and no new buildings. It lists the D(1) use variance, possible relief from the multiple-principal-buildings prohibition, and a C variance for the 35-foot frontage buffer required along Meister Avenue.

The home page lists the environmental document, preliminary plans and preliminary engineering report as preliminary-engineering tasks without completion dates. Final design and right-of-way acquisition carry an anticipated start in 2028 and construction a design-dependent start.

Somerset County’s project page, read Oct. 31, 2026, describes the project as in the Local Preliminary Engineering phase, in which engineering and environmental studies are to obtain Federal Highway Administration approval of the environmental document. The NJTPA Transportation Improvement Program for FY2026–2029 (project N1807) estimates the total cost at $18.616 million and programs $1.9 million for design in fiscal 2027 and $50,000 for right-of-way in fiscal 2028, with $15.8 million for construction listed for 2030–2035.

The Mayor thanked Commissioner Priya Jain for her prompt response and said the Township will remain actively involved and he will continue to provide status updates. Two days earlier his letter had asked NJDOT to close all unsignalized Route 202 crossings immediately; the Oct. 30 statement says he understands suggestions to close the intersection but favors a comprehensive solution.

The agenda describes 3083 Route 22 East (Block 10, Lot 8) as 5.47 acres of undeveloped land in the I-1 Industrial zone, with frontage on Route 22 East and Station Road, across Station Road from the Raritan River Corridor district. The proposed building has 17,660 square feet of manufacturing, 45,296 square feet of storage associated with the manufacturing and 6,000 square feet of office, with parking, loading docks, stormwater management, retaining walls, lighting and landscaping. The applicant’s notice, published Oct. 17, seeks bulk variance relief for retaining walls over six feet and describes the use as permitted and “not intended to be used as a warehouse.”

The agenda describes 204 Raritan Valley College Drive (Block 6, Lot 16) as a 1.24-acre lot in the R/S-1 Retail Service zone, with frontage on Route 22 East and Raritan Valley College Drive, occupied by a vacant 2,446-square-foot bank to be demolished to its foundation. The applicant’s notice lists 20 outdoor seats and variances for 48.7% impervious coverage where 40% is the maximum, trash-enclosure setbacks of 15.46 feet (rear) and 4.20 feet (side) where 25 feet is required, and a second façade sign without frontage.

The same agenda listed the Board’s master-plan consistency review of floodplain Ordinance 2026-1519.

The statement, on Route 202–Holland Brook Road intersection safety and planned improvements, offers condolences after the recent accident at the intersection and says the Township had discussed safety improvements with NJDOT, including earlier plans “having a developer fund certain traffic improvements as part of its approved site plan.”

The agenda states: “The Public Hearing will be carried to the meeting on November 9, 2026, to allow the Planning Board additional time to complete its consistency review,” and lists a motion to carry the hearing to that date. The ordinance itself directs the Planning Board to report within 35 days of referral on any inconsistency with the master plan. The packet’s copy of the ordinance has a blank adoption block. The minutes of the October 26 Committee and October 27 Planning Board meetings had not yet been posted on October 31, 2026.

The Mayor’s letter counts four fatalities and numerous serious non-fatal accidents on Route 202 in Branchburg over the past two years. NJDOT had closed the Route 202 U-turn at Holland Brook Road in December 2025 to prepare for future work, and in March 2026 the Township Administrator said a traffic signal there should be in place within the next year.

The notice states that a sample ballot is not an official ballot for casting votes. The ballot’s public-questions section prints the full authorization language for both bond questions, including the 40% state debt-service aid percentage and the condition that Question 2 takes effect only if Question 1 is also approved.

Mayor James Schworn said the ordinance is required by the NJDEP to comply with changes to the Flood Management Plan and to maintain participation in the National Flood Insurance Program. It was introduced on motion of Mr. Thomas Young, seconded by Mr. Brendon Beatrice, and published October 13, 2026.

The text, in the Committee’s October 26 agenda packet, revises Article VIII, “Flood Plain Management,” of the Land Development Ordinance. It lists November 13, 2026 as the effective date for eight FEMA map panels; measures state-regulated flood hazard areas to NJDEP’s “Climate-adjusted Flood Elevation” on the Raritan River and its branches, Holland Brook, Chambers Brook, the Lamington River and Pleasant Run; generally requires one foot of freeboard above the best-available flood elevation; names the Zoning Officer the Floodplain Administrator; and sets fines of up to $2,000.

The agenda’s summary describes a 5-acre lot in the R/S-2 zone with a 113,837-square-foot, three-story hotel and 155 parking spaces. The site-plan work includes 16 new parking spaces, new signage, updated stormwater infrastructure and landscaping changes. The applicant is represented by Michael P. Castore.

The applicant’s notice, published Sept. 24, 2026, states that apartment buildings are not a permitted use in the R/S-2 Retail Service zone, and that transition-buffer relief along the western property line, previously granted, continues to be sought. It says plans are on file with the Land Use Coordinator in the Engineering Department and that the hearing could be continued without further notice.

At the Sept. 22 special meeting, the applicant’s attorney, Brian Tipton, sought preliminary and final site-plan approval with design waivers and two use variances: one for a vocational school, an educational use, in the I-1 industrial zone, and one for two principal uses in the same building (Block 10, Lot 7). Dan Moscatiello, an owner and the COO, said the family-owned trade school would use about 26,000 of the building’s 42,000 square feet, run classes Monday to Friday ending at 8 p.m., have about 25 staff and about 60 students at a time, and keep its existing facility open. The applicant’s engineer said 126 parking stalls are proposed where 120 are required. The applicant agreed to conditions including connecting to the public sanitary sewer and sending NJDOT a letter of no interest on its Route 22 traffic; the Board’s traffic consultant, Jay Troutman, said the numbers should go to NJDOT for review. No members of the public attended.

The Board approved the application on motion of Vice Chair Walch, seconded by Mr. Sullivan, 7–0 (Chairman Andersen, Vice Chair Walch, Mr. Fox, Mr. Pappas, Ms. Cook, Mr. Albanese and Mr. Sullivan). The Oct. 6 agenda listed Resolution BOA 2026-015 to memorialize it; the Township’s public notice says the determinations are on file in the Engineering Department.

At the August 10, 2026 Committee meeting, Mr. Bonin said the Township was working on the wording of signs dedicating the Sempre and Advance properties as open-space parcels, with a ceremony to follow. He reported the signs ordered at the September 28, 2026 meeting. The minutes do not give tax-map lots for the parcels.

The property is Block 55, Lot 7, a 2.12-acre lot in the R/S-2 zone with an existing two-story, 16,000-square-foot commercial building. The applicant’s attorney, Lawrence A. Calli, said the use is conditionally permitted in the zone, that the deviations concern buffers to abutting uses and mostly go with the existing building and its setbacks, and that the applicant seeks D3 relief with preliminary and final site-plan review. The notice lists a front-yard setback of 111.1 feet where 100 is the maximum, a lot width of 197 feet where 200 is required and a 25-foot transition to lower-intensity uses where 50 is required, and describes 20 resident rooms with 40 patient beds and 46 parking spaces.

Samuel Kesaris of USR Holdings, the main operator, and James Mikhail of Omnia Holdings NJ LLC, the co-operator, testified. In the minutes’ account, Mr. Kesaris said it is not a walk-in facility: patients call an admissions center and are background-checked, and sex offenders and court-mandated patients are not accepted, that census is capped at 40, that about 12–18 staff are on site at a time, and that access is badge-controlled with alarms, cameras and checks every 30 minutes. Mr. Calli said any use variance would run with the property, with conditions on the use rather than the operator; Mr. Kesaris agreed to a condition that no outpatient programs come to the site.

Rebekka Zydel, Glenford Warmington (an attorney for River Trace Condos), Markette Harris, Yuriy Boltyah, Jennifer Testa, Adam Perahia and Maria Kron asked questions, on smoking breaks and the buffer to the neighborhood, noise, night emergency calls, staffing, a traffic study, property values, visitors and whether staff can stop a patient from leaving. The Board carried the case to Dec. 1, 2026 without further notice.

At the same meeting the Board approved, 7–0, a front-yard setback variance for a home addition at 40 Harlan School Road (case 2026-009A HV), reducing the setback from 73.19 feet to about 66.09 feet where 75 is required.

The minutes say Mr. Fox outlined the committee’s recommendations for the coming season: including the Sempre property as an additional parcel in the approved hunting areas, and opening to hunters some farmed sites that the farmers who lease them are not actively hunting.

In public comment, Christine Bliss of Woodfern Road asked about the report and the growing deer population, raising concern that development is displacing deer. Mayor Schworn said significant development is also occurring in neighboring municipalities, that future development may slow or stall with economic conditions, and that several approved developments in the Township have not been fully cleared or advanced. See the September 14, 2026 Committee meeting.

Mr. Dolan said the September edition of the Branchburg News gave him the impression there had been public comment favoring an outright prohibition. According to the minutes, Mr. Thomas Young said residents should review the Governor’s recent position on data centers, which he described as reasonable and balanced, and that the Township should not discourage data centers serving legitimate business purposes. Mayor James Schworn said the Legislature’s recent data-center legislation is “quite robust,” that the data centers now operating in the Township provide positive ratables, and that he does not anticipate more locating in Branchburg in the near term. Mr. David Owens said the governing body remains committed to residents’ interests while fostering an environment that lets businesses remain and expand.

Seven members were present (Michael Blaustein, Vincent Carpentier, Jeffrey Celebre, Puja Desai, Kenneth Hallenbeck, Robert Maider and Charles Tuma); Nat Krishnamurti and Megan Smith were absent. The resolution was moved by Mr. Tuma and seconded by Ms. Desai; there was no public comment. Its explanatory statement gives combined final eligible costs of $17,312,862, with 40% state debt-service aid on those costs. Under the resolution, the Township’s Chief Financial Officer prepared a Supplemental Debt Statement filed with the Township Clerk, and the Board agreed to fund locally any excess costs. Board President Carpentier introduced Dr. Christine Burton as the Liaison for Referendum Communication.

The audit also lists $321,466.67 in capacity charges, $7,849,602.06 in total revenues and other income, and $2,606,000 of fund balance used. Its capital schedules show fixed capital rising from $9,403,696.57 to $14,249,191.45 after $4,845,494.88 of completed projects, and list Neshanic Pump Flood Mitigation at $3,000,000 authorized and uncompleted under ordinance 2021-1418. The Township Committee acknowledged the 2025 audit on Sept. 14, 2026 (Res. 2026-156, 5–0 consent).

Snow removal was budgeted at $100,000 in wages and $135,000 in other expenses, with $100,000 and $111,095.79 paid/charged. These are summarized schedules of 2025 operations, reported by category; street-by-street work details are not in them. In the 2026 adopted budget, the current-year road-improvement capital line appears as $1,300,000.

The audit’s comparative schedule reports the 2025 total tax rate at $1.709 (2024: $1.804), a municipal component of $0.305, and 2025 collections of $83,899,596.59 on a levy of $84,959,605.69 — 98.75%. The annual financial statement prints a year-end surplus of $11,802,344.22, a $1,000 difference from the audit’s schedule that neither document explains. The audit also reports the bid threshold rose to $53,000 effective July 14, 2025 by governing-body resolution. The Township Committee acknowledged the audit at its September 14, 2026 meeting (Resolution No. 2026-156, consent agenda, 5–0).

Mr. Tilek, a 13-year resident who said he is a candidate for a Township Committee seat, said the Township should act before a data-center application is submitted, that large-scale data centers consume a significant amount of electricity and other local resources, and that some neighboring towns have restricted or prohibited them. According to the minutes, Mayor James Schworn said Verizon’s presence in the Township and existing smaller data-related facilities could make an outright ban difficult, and that the Township shares concerns about added strain on local resources. Mr. Thomas Young said the Township will review other towns’ measures but cautioned against unintended consequences from overly constricted regulations, and against shutting out legitimate uses that support existing and future businesses.

On April 27, 2026 Mr. Bonin said the temporary quiet zone at the crossing is a two-year permit that the Township would reapply for if the roadway is not improved before it expires. On Sept. 14 he said the Federal Railroad Administration hoped to issue an intent to proceed shortly, that the Township needs Norfolk Southern’s approval first, and that it hopes construction can be done this year or early next year; a resident raised the temporary quiet zone’s expiration in spring 2027.

At the December 8, 2025 Committee meeting, Mr. Bonin said the Township-owned lot next to the Silver Saddle Community Pool is no longer needed by the Township, shared the results of an appraisal and described the sale process; the Committee agreed to move forward with the sale. Resolution 2026-29, adopted 5–0 at the January 12, 2026 meeting, authorized an auction. The June 22, 2026 minutes list Resolution 2026-121 by title, without a buyer or price.

The ordinances were introduced on May 11. Each vote was 4–0 (Aye: Columbus, Owens, Beatrice, Schworn), with Mr. Young absent. No. 2026-1513 buys and outfits three police SUVs and equipment including radar units, radios, tasers and handguns; No. 2026-1514 a street sweeper, a loader, a double drum asphalt roller and a mini asphalt track paver; No. 2026-1515 SCBA air packs, thermal imaging cameras, and fire and turnout gear for the North Branch, Neshanic, Country Hills and Readington volunteer fire companies; and No. 2026-1512 doors, a water filtration system and HVAC replacement at the Annex, Police Station and Municipal Complex.

The application (Block 7, Lot 3) would divide the property into three lots, one for the new building and two for the existing single-family homes. Board Attorney Steve Warner said the Board granted D(1) use and D(5) density variances for the project in 2012 and that they still stand. Board Planner Kendra Lelie said the nine units earned 18 Third Round credits with bonuses and that all nine are to be deed-restricted for low- and moderate-income families; she said the three-bedroom units must be enlarged to meet the Township’s minimum size. The April 15, 2026 court order lists the project as Henderson/Genesis, nine 100% affordable units awaiting site-plan approval.

Proposed conditions the applicant accepted included a performance bond of 120% of the cost of the affordable units to ensure completion within two years of the resolution, a developer’s agreement and a concrete bus-stop pad; the applicant also said it had no objection to providing a tot lot, which the 2012 approval called for. Two neighbors on Route 28 asked about stormwater, the sidewalk, the view of the building and the height.

The consent agenda passed on motion of Mr. Beatrice, seconded by Mr. Young; recorded vote 4–0 (Aye: Young, Columbus, Beatrice, Schworn), with Mr. Owens absent. Later bill lists include $36,000.00 to Frank H. Lehr Associates for a municipal complex survey (July 13) and $7,795.00 to The Goldstein Partnership for police building conceptual design (Aug. 10). The Committee adopted the $18,060,000 annex bond ordinance on September 28, 2026.

The update said responsibility transitions to Somerset County Social Services after the initial response phase, and credited the Branchburg Parent-Teacher Organization with coordinating local relief from a central support location at River Lea Farm. It said additional details would be shared once the investigation is complete.

The trust-fund sheet shows 2025 taxes realized of $2,462,766.50 and 2025 cash realized of $2,482,848.73, cumulative collections of $37,431,124.40 and cumulative expenditures of $27,763,006.29, and 0.000 recreation acres and 0.000 farmland acres preserved in 2025. The budget was introduced at the March 23, 2026 Committee meeting and adopted after a public hearing at the April 27, 2026 meeting, on a 5–0 recorded vote.

The 2026 User Friendly Budget’s summary row prints the levy as $2,671,898, without the 30 cents shown on the adopted budget’s sheets.

The capital program plans $2,500,000 for road improvements in 2027 and $2,000,000 in each of 2028 through 2031; DPW equipment is planned at $250,000 in each of 2027–2031. The schedule is a plan and does not by itself authorize expenditures. The adopted budget’s current-year road-improvement capital line reads $1,300,000, a different schedule the budget does not reconcile with the capital program’s $2,540,000, and neither is broken down by street. In 2026 the Committee bought resurfacing materials from Schifano Construction (Resolution No. 2026-96, May 11) and approved $996,214.10 in payments to it for road resurfacing on the June 22 and Aug. 10 bill lists.

The release said the Township remained in close communication with the Red Cross and partner organizations, thanked residents, businesses and community organizations for an outpouring of support, and directed donations through established, vetted service providers, attaching a Red Cross list of Somerset County organizations.

The ordinance allows up to 250 multifamily apartment, townhouse and stacked-townhouse dwellings plus one special-needs group home, and requires 50 affordable credits: at least 46 affordable multifamily units and four special-needs bedrooms. It sets a 10% minimum open-space area and 60% maximum impervious coverage, and directs that later site-plan review refine the concept plan, which shows 31.9338 acres.

The Committee introduced the ordinance on February 9, 2026, on motion of Mr. Young, seconded by Mr. Owens, with all five members in favor, and the Planning Board found it consistent with the Master Plan the next day (Resolution PB 2026-010, 7–0). There, Board Planner Kendra Lelie said the rear piece of the Vollers property, between North Branch Walk and Summit Green, where Premier is the developer, will connect to both communities and become the AH-8 zone. On March 9 it was adopted on motion of Mrs. Columbus, seconded by Mr. Owens; the minutes record 40 members of the public, and no one spoke at the hearing.

The same night the Committee adopted Ordinance 2026-1508 (the amended Evans Way plan) and Ordinance 2026-1509 (affordable-housing and development fees), each 5–0, and on its consent agenda, also 5–0, Resolutions 2026-64 (affirmative marketing plan), 2026-65 (spending plan), 2026-66 (the 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.

The exchange came during the Administrator’s report at the March 9, 2026 Committee meeting. A Township plan set dated May 20, 2024 covers Holland Brook Road improvements including traffic-signal work at the Route 202 intersection. On April 27, 2026, Mr. Beatrice asked about signal timing at Route 202 and Old York Road; Mr. Bonin said NJDOT is aware of the issue.

The message, titled “Our Volunteer Emergency Services & Community Commitment,” describes administering oaths at the companies’ installation dinners and says members “leave their families in the middle of the night” to answer calls. It is the Mayor’s statement in a municipal publication. In May 2026 the Township Committee adopted Ordinance No. 2026-1515, 4–0, appropriating $150,000 for air packs, thermal imaging cameras and fire and turnout gear for four of the volunteer fire companies.

The ordinance, introduced at the January 12, 2026 Committee meeting, amends Chapter 24, “Open Space Conservation,” Section 24-2. As read into the minutes, the committee reviews land acquisitions and “the adequacy of existing recreation programs”; its members are a Township Committee member, the Planning Board Chair or designee, an Environmental Commission member, the Director of Recreation, the Mayor or designee (who chairs it), the Township Administrator and up to five residents on one-year terms; and it keeps an open-space map and inventory with priority rankings, gives opinions on open-space purchases and reports to the Township Committee each year.

Mayor Schworn said the ordinance incorporates the assessment and evaluation of recreation programs into the committee’s duties. No one spoke at the public hearing. It was adopted on motion of Mrs. Columbus, seconded by Mr. Owens (Aye: Young, Columbus, Owens, Schworn). See the January 26, 2026 Committee meeting.

The Township’s implementing filing recites the steps between the plan’s adoption and this order: a Fair Share Housing Center request for additional information on August 28, 2025, and an October 7, 2025 case-management order requiring the Township and FSHC to confer on conditions for compliance. On December 8, 2025 the Committee adopted Resolution 2025-218, “Authorization to Execute Consent Order – Conditional Compliance Certification – Fourth Round Affordable Housing Compliance Plan,” on its consent agenda, 5–0. The January 8, 2026 order is described in the March 13 filing and recited in the April 15 final order.

The form’s “TBD” entries cover outfalls, groundwater discharge points, interconnections, storm drain inlets, manholes, length of conveyance and stormwater facilities; pump stations are listed as 0 and maintenance yards and ancillary operations as 2. The plan says the outfall and infrastructure map is updated as new facilities are accepted or built, and that the Township will use GPS devices to locate infrastructure. The Township Engineer, named in the plan as Stormwater Program Coordinator, can be asked for the current inventory.

At the December 8, 2025 meeting, Mr. Bonin had said “the U-turn at Route 202 & Holland Brook Road will close shortly for improvements.” The minutes do not give the closure date.

A notice signed by Clerk Maggie Schmitt had set the hearing for 8:00 p.m. at the Municipal Complex, under N.J.S.A. 48:5A-23 and N.J.A.C. 14:18-11.6. According to the minutes, Robert Clifton, Comcast’s Senior Director for Government & Regulatory Affairs, provided an overview of the process and addressed questions from the Committee, and Mr. Willard outlined the next steps, “which would be the adoption of an ordinance defining the terms of the renewal agreement.” The minutes record no public speakers and no vote on the renewal. Mayor Thomas Young presided, with all five members present.

Self-storage is not a permitted use in the I-2 zone. The bulk relief covered four stories where 3.5 are permitted and a lot width of 326.5 feet where 350 is required, along with design waivers for front-yard parking and disturbance of steep slopes. Holland Brook crosses the rear of the property; the applicant’s engineer said the wetlands area would stay undisturbed except for a sewer lateral, and that NJDEP and NJDOT approvals are needed. Conditions included compliance with the professionals’ reviews, no light spillage past property lines, all NJDEP approvals, fire-truck access through the rear tunnel, a “Do Not Enter” sign and access gates.

The vote, on motion of Mr. Iselin, seconded by Mr. Verbeke: Vice-Chair Walch, Mr. Cuttitta, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Fox, Mr. Albanese, Mr. Quade and Mr. Iselin aye; Mr. Verbeke and Mr. McCartney not eligible; Chairman Andersen and Mr. Pappas absent. The January 6, 2026 meeting adopted the written resolution.

At the ordinance’s introduction on Nov. 10, 2025, Administrator Gregory Bonin said it “will add $50 to the average home on public sewer.” At the hearing, Finance Director Diane Schubach said the Township “has had a difficult time keeping up with the increases from the Somerset Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority, and it is essential for the utility to maintain financial stability.” The ordinance also drops a $63.50 quarterly meter administrative and inspection charge for metered properties. It was adopted on motion of Mr. Schworn, seconded by Mr. Owens (Aye: Schworn, Columbus, Owens, Beatrice, Young). The same night the Committee hired Mott MacDonald for a sewer collection system capacity evaluation at Meter Chamber 12B (Res. 2025-214). See the November 24, 2025 Committee meeting.

The ordinance includes a $60,000 down payment from previously adopted budgets and sets a 10-year period of usefulness. No one spoke at the public hearing. It was adopted on motion of Mr. Schworn, seconded by Mr. Owens; recorded vote 4–0 (Aye: Schworn, Owens, Beatrice, Young). Mayor Young said it “will allocate funding to upgrade the radios for our Emergency Services Agencies.” On Dec. 22, 2025, Township Administrator Gregory Bonin said the Administration would coordinate and facilitate the radio purchases for the fire and rescue companies, and on Jan. 12, 2026 the Committee authorized purchases of mobile radios and communications equipment from Motorola Solutions, Inc.

The applicant’s attorney, Glenn S. Pantel, said the amendment confirms a phasing line and changes none of the improvements approved in 2023. The applicant’s engineer, Mark Lescavage of Colliers Engineering & Design, said the building will have six loading bays, a 14-foot sound wall and 35 parking spaces, that part of the landscape buffer to the north will be built to screen the homes there, and that all outside agency approvals for Lot 4 are in place, including an Oct. 21 Somerset County Planning Board approval.

Chairman Chabrak asked whether the project is still a housing project. Township Engineer Douglas Ball said Lot 4 is a stand-alone portion and the rest, Block 58, Lot 36, is still part of the Fourth Round affordable-housing plan; Board Planner Kendra Lelie said the stand-alone portion will be built first and the remainder will need site-plan approval and changes to the zoning ordinance. Mr. Pantel said the lot was under contract to be sold, with the closing that year and construction starting the next, and that the applicant remained committed to building the affordable housing.

Lorie Kraynak of Breckenridge Drive asked who would occupy the building; Mr. Pantel said the buyer could not be named and the use would be the approved distribution/warehouse use. She said she had no objection. The Board approved the amendment and adopted the resolution on motion of Mr. Hambro, seconded by Councilwoman Columbus (Ayes: Chairman Chabrak, Councilwoman Columbus, Ms. Cook, Mr. Hambro, Mr. McLoughlin; absent: Councilman Owens, Mr. Verbeke, Ms. Donegan, Mr. Russoniello).

Read through OCR, the application identifies the applicant as a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast Cable Communications, itself wholly owned by Comcast Corporation, with an office at 279 Amwell Road, Hillsborough. It states Comcast would apply the state Office of Cable Television’s Line Extension Policy in future situations, with a density threshold of 25 homes per mile. The rates section refers to appendices. The Township Committee held the public hearing on the application on Dec. 8, 2025.

The map, drawn at 1 inch = 100 feet on an October 2024 base, marks Section A (5 of 5 homes want sewer), Section B (2 of 6), Section C (8 of 18) and Section D (none of 2), and distinguishes existing sewer, proposed sewer, a proposed force main and areas where owners are not interested in connecting. The Township’s Sept. 19, 2025 letter describes it as the revised plan “showing the sub-drainage areas and the current residents interested in public sewers.” The July 16, 2025 letter had counted 3 of 6 interested in B, 8 of 16 in C and 1 of 2 in D.

Township Engineer Doug Ball wrote that past Township inquiries led it to review options to extend sanitary sewers to Miller Avenue, Central Place and a section of Station Road, where several sub-drainage areas could discharge into existing municipal sewers. The preliminary estimates: A-Green $183,600 (5 homes, all interested, $36,720 each); B-Orange $307,350 (6 homes, 3 interested; $51,225 each if all connect, $102,450 if only those interested); C-Blue $1,275,525 (16 homes, 8 interested; $79,720 or $159,440); D-Red $140,400 (2 homes, 1 interested; $70,200 or $140,400). The meeting was set for Aug. 14, 2025 at 7 p.m. in the Municipal Building courtroom.

Mr. Schworn and Mrs. Columbus attended by video call, and the minutes record about one member of the public, who did not comment. Mr. Owens reported on the Planning Board hearing the night before, and Mayor Young said the plan is a required element of the Township’s affordable-housing obligation, due June 30. Township Attorney William Willard said that once the Committee endorsed the plan the Township would begin implementation and adopt the ordinances, all of which must be in effect by March 2026.

The resolution recites the Superior Court order establishing the 0 present-need / 255 prospective-need obligation as entered April 8, 2025; the Planning Board’s June 24 resolution dates the same order to April 18, 2025. The resolution also directs that a copy be sent to the Office of Planning Advocacy and the Somerset County Planning Board within 30 days.

The letter states that SRVSA, which serves seven towns, is nearing capacity, faces PFAS and microplastic treatment mandates with modernization costs that could exceed $100–$200 million, and is uncertain whether its site can support expansion. Both documents say the Township would oppose a septic or small-scale wastewater treatment facility on the Branchburg portion serving development in another municipality, and the letter cites the portion’s zoning, steep slopes and wetlands. Both refer to a developer-hosted community meeting without an attendance or speaker count. These are the Township’s dated statements. The Township’s Fox Hollow news page points to the letter, the FAQ and the agreements in its Document Center.

The release is the Township’s own announcement; the S&P report linked by an earlier Township page is dated September 2024. The 2026 user-friendly budget also reports the AAA rating but leaves its “Year of Last Rating” field blank.

The same page lists a Community Stakeholder Meeting (Summer 2025), Local Officials Briefing No. 2 (Fall 2025) and a Public Information Meeting (Fall 2025), each with time and location “TBD.” The site does not confirm whether those anticipated meetings were held.

The Township filed its declaratory-judgment action and this resolution with the Superior Court on January 28, 2025. Fair Share Housing Center and the New Jersey Builders Association objected to the Township’s calculation, and the obligation was settled at 255 units in March 2025.

Two later township records recite the Township’s recalculation as 248 rather than the 247 in this resolution’s operative text: the Planning Board’s June 24, 2025 resolution and the adopted Housing Element and Fair Share Plan. The records do not reconcile the difference.

The deductions include $11,910,000 of local-school debt and $2,550,000 of self-liquidating sewer-system debt, both fully deducted. The statement lists $2,550,000 of sewer serial bonds as authorized but not issued, with 2024 utility cash receipts of $7,366,673 and operating and maintenance costs of $4,515,939.43.

The phase’s listed tasks include an approved cultural resources report, right-of-way report, preliminary plans, a public information meeting, the environmental document and the preliminary engineering report. Final design and right-of-way acquisition carry an anticipated start in 2028, and construction an anticipated start listed as design-dependent.

The plan’s inventory form lists most MS4 infrastructure counts — outfalls, groundwater discharge points, interconnections, inlets, manholes, conveyance length and facilities — as “TBD”, with pump stations at 0 and maintenance yards at 2, on a form that says the totals were due Jan. 1, 2026. Its Watershed Improvement Plan form also reads “TBD.” These are the plan’s entries at the 2024 review, the version posted on the Township website.

The records give two adoption dates: the SPPP’s ordinance table says the ordinance was adopted Aug. 25, 2024, and the ordinance scan’s closing page reads Aug. 26, 2024. The scan’s vote pages show a first reading on July 22, 2024 with five yes and a final reading of four yes and one absent, as visually checked against the archived pages.

The ordinance responds to NJDEP amendments to N.J.A.C. 7:8-1.1 et seq. adopted July 17, 2023. It applies to nonresidential major developments, non-preempted aspects of residential major developments and Township-undertaken major developments, with transition rules for applications filed before July 22, 2024. It becomes effective upon adoption, publication and approval by the Somerset County Planning Board, or within 60 days of county receipt without action.

The five-sheet set carries the Township Engineer’s name (Douglas Ball, P.E.) and a 2024 committee roster on its title sheet: Mayor Anna Columbus; Deputy Mayor Thomas Young; Committeepersons James Schworn, Brendon Beatrice and David Owens. The legend includes traffic-signal mast arms, signal heads and pedestrian signals. The title sheet also carries an “Approved for Construction By:” line. On March 9, 2026, Township Administrator Gregory Bonin told the Township Committee that the proposed traffic signal at Route 202 and Holland Brook Road should be in place within the next year.

The audit’s note schedule shows the 2024-1464 notes renewed on Apr. 23, 2025 at 3.50%, due Apr. 22, 2026, with $19,330,000 outstanding at Dec. 31, 2025. Its summary of municipal debt deducts “Bonds and Notes to be Paid by Open Space Trust Fund” of $19,330,000 for 2025, against $5,700,000 for each of 2024 and 2023. The audit identifies the ordinance only as “Acquisition of Property”; it does not name the parcels.

The audit’s note schedule shows the 2023-1457 notes renewed on Oct. 9, 2024 and again on Oct. 4, 2025, due Oct. 6, 2026 at 4.25%, and the 2023-1455 note, $5,000,000 at Dec. 31, 2024, retired during 2025 with no renewal. A further $95,000 was authorized but not issued under 2023-1457 at Dec. 31, 2025. The audit identifies both ordinances only as “Acquisition of Property”; it does not name the parcels.

In remarks printed in the Jan. 5, 2026 minutes, Mayor James Schworn said the Township “purchased two properties on Route 28,” the Advance property, which he said is being converted to open space, and the Pizzo property.

The extension replaces the MOU’s original deadlines of Sept. 30, 2022, Mar. 30, 2023 and Sept. 30, 2025. The dates may be extended again only in writing by mutual agreement. The roll call, as visually checked against the resolution’s scan: Young, Schworn, Beatrice and Owens yes; Columbus absent. The executed extension’s handwritten date is not legible in the scan.

The county’s project page says the Local Concept Development phase was completed and the project approved to advance to Local Preliminary Engineering, in which detailed engineering and technical environmental studies are to obtain Federal Highway Administration approval of the environmental document, qualifying the project for federal Final Design and Construction funds. The project runs through the federally funded Local Capital Project Delivery program administered by NJDOT Local Aid District 3, in coordination with NJTPA.

The date comes from the recitals of Ordinance 2026-1508; the Planning Board’s October 28, 2025 minutes refer to the same resolution as “approved by the Planning Board on July 27, 2023.” The June 2025 Housing Element and Fair Share Plan describes the Evans Way site as vacant.

On October 28, 2025 the Board approved an amendment phasing this approval (Resolution PB 2025-022, 5–0): the approved 30,000-square-foot building on Block 58.01, Lot 4 — 5,000 square feet of office and 25,000 of warehouse — became phase one, with no change to the 2023 plan. Ordinance 2026-1508 later replaced the warehouse plan for Block 58, Lot 36 with housing.

The letter says a yes vote would give the Township the option, not an obligation, to acquire the properties, that the owners were under no obligation to sell in whole or in part, and that any purchase would be subject to mandatory public readings and Township Committee approval. It also says two large parcels on the north side of town along the Route 28 corridor could support a 300,000+ square foot manufacturing facility with warehousing under the current zoning.

The same ordinance’s recitals describe the August 19, 2022 plans for application 2022-010P—PFSP/PFSUB: a 200,750-square-foot building on proposed Lot 36, a 66,150-square-foot building on proposed Lot 36.02 and a 30,000-square-foot building on Block 58.01, Lot 4, with proposed Lot 36.01 to be donated to the Township. The recitals give the agreement total as approximately 300,300 square feet across three buildings and the application’s proposed building areas as 200,750, 66,150 and 30,000 square feet; the record excerpt does not explain the difference. The agreement’s terms do not establish that the donation occurred.

The redevelopment study report was dated January 4, 2022. The ordinance’s recitals do not give a count of public speakers at the January 25, 2022 Planning Board hearing; they state that testimony was received from the planning consultant and that members of the public were given the opportunity to ask questions and raise objections.

The recitals of Ordinance 2026-1508, filed with the court in March 2026, describe this 2021 step: the investigation report was dated January 4, 2022, and the Planning Board held a noticed public hearing on it on January 25, 2022, before recommending designation.

The concept-development stage’s listed tasks included the purpose-and-need statement, data collection and environmental screening, selection of the preliminary preferred alternative, the concept development report, NEPA classification and initial public outreach.

The archive does not supply attendance or comment totals. The bridge carries County Route 567 over the South Branch Raritan River between Branchburg and Hillsborough; the first 2019 meeting was held in Branchburg and this one in Hillsborough.

The open-house-style meeting was billed as a chance to learn about the project, ask questions of team representatives, and view project history, status, studies and concepts on display boards. The archive does not supply attendance or comment totals.