Bridgewater Township, New Jersey
Each issue has its own page: where it stands, what happens next, and every dated event, explainer, document and meeting recording behind it, each linked to the township's own record.
The townwide ban on data centers and detention centers, and the lawsuit against it.
The 2025 redevelopment plan for the Greymark Office Tract at 1200 Route 22 lists data centers as a permitted use. The Council adopted townwide data-center standards (Ord. 26-15) 3-0 on Sept. 3, 2026; the owner sued on Oct. 5, Patch reported; and on Oct. 15 the Council introduced #26-21 to remove data centers from the Greymark plan.
Applications, redevelopment areas and the Master Plan: what is being proposed and built across the township.
Bridgewater Self Storage, LLC (App. #24-027-ZB) asked the Zoning Board for a use variance to build a 774-unit indoor self-storage building on the former Tectonic office site and the lot where the Melick family runs a seasonal farm stand. TAPinto reported a 5-2 vote to approve on Oct. 13, 2026, with a condition that keeps a farm stand on the site.
A register of Planning Board and Zoning Board applications from late 2025 through October 2026, from the boards' minutes and agendas, the township's notices of decision, Council records and news reports, plus the omnibus zoning Ordinance 26-14 (adopted 4-0 Aug. 20, 2026) and the Oct. 27, 2026 Master Plan Reexamination Report.
The Council made Urban Edge Properties the redeveloper of The Village at Bridgewater Commons, 3-0, on Jan. 22, 2026, under the mall's revenue-sharing agreement dating to 1988. Other 2026 actions include a six-month temporary parking ordinance on Route 22 (Ord. 26-08) and an amendment to a township land sale for supportive housing (Ord. 26-07).
Rockland APV Bridgewater Energy LLC wants to build a lithium-ion battery energy storage system on county-owned land at East Main Street and Polhemus Lane in Finderne. As a private company it needs a use variance. The Zoning Board held a fourth hearing on Oct. 20, 2026 and has not decided.
Road projects, sidewalks, sewer and water, power and cell coverage.
The Council adopted a $1.9 million road bond (Ordinance #26-11) on July 9, 2026, 5-0, for three NJDOT-aided projects and township-wide overlays. Speeding on Vosseller Avenue, Bogart Drive, East Main Street and other streets came up in resident comments at Council meetings throughout 2026.
The 2025–26 snow contract with RJM Landscape and Design grew from $60,000 to $681,446.25 and road salt to $229,605.60. The Council then adopted three ordinances: snow clearing on private roadways of apartment complexes (#26-05, 3-1), around fire hydrants (#26-13, 4-0) and more snow-emergency no-parking streets (#26-16, 5-0).
Bridgewater's sewer utility (about 350 miles of lines) sends wastewater to the Somerset Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority, at a 2026 treatment cost of $6,075,076. The Council awarded the $2,946,000 Middle Brook Pumping Station Phase 2 contract on April 9, 2026, financed through the state Water Bank; a Warren developer sued the township in July over a sewer approval, Patch reported.
Curbside recycling in Bridgewater is provided through Somerset County under a 2026 agreement of up to $477,537.28 ($28.16 per household for up to 16,958 households), approved Feb. 19, 2026, 5-0. The township's yard-waste site is run by a contractor at no cost to the township, and bulky-waste drop-off is held twice a year.
How the township is run: appointments, contracts, policing policy and public notice.
Fire service in Bridgewater is run by four independent fire districts with their own elected commissioners and taxes. In 2026 the Township bonded $4,205,000 for a county-required emergency radio replacement (Ordinance #26-10, 5-0) and awarded Motorola Solutions up to $2,950,000.
In 2026 several board appointments split 3-2 and a consent motion on eight professional contracts failed 2-3 before all eight passed 5-0. Council members have also discussed remote public comment, posting agenda backup documents and applicant requirements for boards.
In 2026 the Council approved police vehicles, equipment and a superior officers' contract through 2030, and extended the Chief's contract through 2027. Residents raised emergency-response cost recovery and immigration enforcement; the Township ended its license-plate reader vendor relationship.
The Council adopted Ordinance 26-19, ending Township health-benefit eligibility for elected officials, 5-0 on Oct. 15, 2026, according to the township's Resolution #26-10-15-219 and its notice of adoption dated Oct. 16. It had been introduced 5-0 on Oct. 1.
Property taxes, the township budget, assessments and tax appeals.
The Council adopted a $54.9 million 2026 municipal budget 4-0 on May 7, 2026. The 2026 general tax rate is 1.820 per $100 of assessed value, of which 0.245 is for municipal purposes; the amount raised for municipal purposes rose 9.96%, to $30.7 million.
The Fourth Round housing plan, the court case behind it, and the developments that carry it.
A 1.5-acre lot on Route 202/206 next to the Time to Eat Diner was rezoned (AH-3) for 11 affordable apartments and a four-unit home for disabled veterans, part of the court-approved housing plan. Residents and the Borough of Somerville sued; news reports describe a conditional settlement and a dismissal tied to an NJDOT highway-access appeal.
Bridgewater's 2025-2035 obligation is 421 new affordable homes plus a rehabilitation share of 130. The Council adopted the zoning for three new inclusionary sites, 5-0, on March 5, 2026, and on April 15, 2026 the court certified the plan, giving the township protection from builder's-remedy suits through June 30, 2035.
Farmland and open-space preservation, wildlife, streams and the Sourland Mountain.
FEMA's new flood maps for Bridgewater take effect Nov. 13, 2026, the date by which the township must adopt a revised flood damage prevention ordinance to stay in the National Flood Insurance Program. The township's notice lists that ordinance (#26-18) as introduced Oct. 15. A $2.5 million drainage bond (#26-12) was adopted July 9, 5-0.
The Council applied for a $75,000 state grant, matched by $75,000 from the Open Space Fund, to rebuild the Alfred E. Brown Park tennis courts, awarded a $133,505.50 basketball-court contract at Philip and David Miller Park, and is preparing a Camp Cromwell bid. An ordinance to buy Block 519, Lot 28 for $65,600 was introduced Oct. 15, 2026.
Bridgewater sued Somerset County and the county Park Commission on Oct. 16, 2025 over trees cleared for a new county access drive into Washington Valley Park from Vosseller Avenue. The court denied temporary and preliminary restraints in fall 2025; the Council President reported on Oct. 1, 2026 that the lawsuit is pending.