Land use and development

Place of worship at 630 South Middlebush Road

Tawheed Dahwah Center asks the Zoning Board of Adjustment for amended preliminary and final site plan approval and relief from two conditions of a 2019–2021 approval, chiefly on parking, to build a 19,350-square-foot place of worship at 630 South Middlebush Road. Neighboring farm owners object through counsel. The Board's decision has not been posted.

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

Zoning Board heard it again October 22; decision not posted Last moved

What happens next

The application (ZBA-24-00017) was on the Zoning Board's October 22, 2026 agenda; whether the Board decided it that night or carried it again is not yet in the posted record. Any decision is memorialized in a resolution at a later meeting. Agendas and video are on the township's Granicus archive.

The application. Tawheed Dahwah Center (ZBA-24-00017) seeks amended preliminary and final site plan approval plus relief of conditions to build a 19,350-square-foot place of worship at 630 South Middlebush Road (Block 37.02, Lot 46.03, Agricultural zone). The applicant bought the property from an earlier applicant whose approval came out of Board hearings in 2019–2021. It asks for relief from two conditions of that approval: the hours and days of operation, and parking. The new building is smaller than the one approved, but its worship area is larger, which raises the parking the ordinance requires.

Where it stands. The Board heard testimony on November 20, 2025, February 19 and April 16, 2026. The application was on its agendas again on September 24, October 1, October 15 and October 22, 2026; the agendas mark it carried from each of the first three dates to the next. Minutes are posted for the first three hearings only. The Board’s decision has not been posted.

The main questions on the record.

  • Parking. The earlier approval had 157 spaces, 30 of them “banked” (designed but not built). In April 2026 the applicant proposed building 97 and banking 60. The ordinance standard for an open worship area, one space per 15 square feet, gives 532 for the 7,981-square-foot worship area; the applicant’s engineer agreed with that figure.
  • Traffic. The applicant’s traffic engineer projected 30 cars in and 30 out for a typical service and a 30-second average delay leaving the site at the evening peak. Board members and residents questioned the counts and the delay.
  • Stormwater. The objectors filed a stormwater engineer’s report; the applicant’s engineer said the Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission staff had found the design compliant.

What residents can do. Attend Zoning Board meetings, where members of the public may question each witness after the testimony. Read the plans and reports on the township’s application page and the agendas and video on Granicus.

The South Middlebush Road application, explained

Timeline

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

  1. Pending Zoning Board opens hearing on 630 South Middlebush Road place of worshipTawheed Dahwah Center asked for amended preliminary and final site plan approval and relief from two conditions of an earlier approval, chiefly parking, for a 19,350-square-foot place of worship. Counsel for the neighboring Snyder Farm objected, mainly on traffic. Carried to February 19, 2026.
  2. Pending Objectors file stormwater report; applicant's engineer and architect testifyThe Board received the objectors' letter and their engineer's stormwater report. The applicant's engineer said the Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission staff found the stormwater design compliant and impervious cover falls to 18.08%. Carried to April 16, 2026.
  3. Pending Applicant proposes 97 built parking spaces; traffic engineer testifiesThe applicant revised its plan to build 97 spaces and bank 60. Its traffic engineer projected a level of service "D," about 30 seconds' delay, for cars leaving at the evening peak. Board members and residents questioned the figures. Carried to July 2, 2026.
  4. Pending South Middlebush application returns with revised review and County lettersThe application was back on the Zoning Board's agenda with a revised Technical Review Committee report (September 10, 2026) and a Somerset County Planning Board letter (September 8, 2026). It was carried to October 1, then October 15, then October 22.
  5. Pending Zoning Board hears the South Middlebush application again; decision not postedThe Tawheed Dahwah Center application was the only hearing on the Zoning Board's October 22, 2026 agenda. Whether the Board decided it that night has not been posted.

Explainers

  • The South Middlebush Road Application: Parking, Traffic and Stormwater Before the Zoning Board

    Tawheed Dahwah Center wants to build a 19,350-square-foot place of worship at 630 South Middlebush Road under an approval first granted to an earlier applicant, with relief from two of its conditions: hours of operation and parking. This page sets out the relief sought, the hearings, the testimony on parking, traffic and stormwater, the objectors' filings and the Board's process, from the Board's minutes. The decision has not been posted.

Documents

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

Meetings

  • Zoning Board of Adjustment — October 22, 2026

    The only application on the agenda was the Tawheed Dahwah Center's amended site plan and relief of conditions for a 19,350 sq ft place of worship at 630 South Middlebush Road, carried from October 15. No minutes are posted, and the outcome is not yet on the written record.

  • Zoning Board of Adjustment — October 15, 2026

    The Tawheed Dahwah Center application for a place of worship at 630 South Middlebush Road was on the agenda at 6:30 pm in the Council chambers; the agenda marks it carried to October 22, 2026, and marks a residential addition on Vermont Avenue approved. No minutes are posted.

  • Zoning Board of Adjustment — October 1, 2026

    The agenda marks the Tawheed Dahwah Center application for 630 South Middlebush Road carried to October 15, 2026, to be heard at 6:30 pm in the Council chambers. It also marks a place-of-worship use variance at 60 Millstone Road approved and the Islamic Circle of North America application at 1320 Hamilton Street carried to November 5. No minutes are posted.

  • Zoning Board of Adjustment — September 24, 2026

    The special-meeting agenda marks APPROVED the Board's resolutions on the 258,150 sq ft warehouse at 135 Davidson Avenue and the related church subdivision and site plan. It then took up the Tawheed Dahwah Center's amended site plan for a place of worship at 630 South Middlebush Road, which the agenda marks carried to October 1. Minutes are not posted.

  • Zoning Board of Adjustment — April 16, 2026

    The third night of the Tawheed Dahwah Center hearing, the only item. The applicant proposed banking 60 of its parking spaces and building 97, and its traffic engineer testified that the site's peak driveway would operate at level of service D. Board members pressed on attendance and intensity of use; objectors' counsel asked that banked spaces need Board approval. Carried to July 2, 2026.

  • Zoning Board of Adjustment — February 19, 2026

    The second night of the Tawheed Dahwah Center hearing. Objectors' counsel filed a stormwater engineer's report; the applicant's engineer and architect testified on the site plan, stormwater, parking and the size of the worship area, and residents asked about occupancy and enforcement. The hearing was carried to April 16, 2026.

  • Zoning Board of Adjustment — November 20, 2025

    The first night of testimony on the Tawheed Dahwah Center's application to amend an earlier approval for a 19,350 sq ft place of worship at 630 South Middlebush Road, chiefly to change its parking conditions. Objectors' counsel for the neighboring Snyder Farm raised traffic. The hearing was carried to February 19, 2026. The Board also approved 655MIZ, LLC's building addition, 7-0, and amended its by-laws.

Sources for this overview

  1. Zoning Board of Adjustment minutes, November 20, 2025
  2. Zoning Board of Adjustment minutes, February 19, 2026 (attached to the April 2, 2026 agenda)
  3. Zoning Board of Adjustment minutes, April 16, 2026 (attached to the June 4, 2026 agenda)
  4. Zoning Board of Adjustment agenda, October 22, 2026
  5. Franklin Township, application material, Tawheed Dahwah Center, ZBA-24-00017
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