Affordable housing

Fourth Round housing and the new zoning districts

A court set Warren's Fourth Round obligation at 10 present-need and 262 prospective-need units. The Township adopted a housing plan and Ordinances 26-06 through 26-14 creating or revising six affordable-housing districts, and no site plan for those districts has appeared on a reviewed agenda.

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

Districts adopted Last moved

What happens next

The annual affordable housing monitoring report is due February 15. Planning Board agendas are posted at the Township's AgendaCenter; residents can comment at Committee meetings during privilege of the floor.

Warren’s Fourth Round affordable housing obligation is 10 present-need units and 262 prospective-need units for 2025–2035, fixed by court order. The Township had proposed 181 units in Resolution 2025-06 and filed a declaratory judgment action, SOM-L-180-25, on January 31, 2025. Judge William G. Mennen’s order of April 23, 2025 set the obligation at 10 and 262.

Ordinances 26-06 through 26-11 recite that Fair Share Housing Center and Avalon Bay Communities challenged the Township’s Housing Element and Fair Share Plan on August 31, 2025; Resolution 2025-308 recites September 2, 2025. The Township and FSHC executed a mediation agreement on December 21, 2025; the Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program issued a decision recommendation on January 29, 2026. On February 3, 2026 Judge Mennen entered a Decision and Order approving the plan, dismissing Avalon’s challenge, and requiring implementing ordinances by March 16, 2026.

The Planning Board adopted the Amended HEFSP dated February 10, 2026 on February 25, 2026, 8–0, with three members absent, after a hearing at which two residents spoke. On March 12, 2026 the Committee endorsed the plan (Resolution 2026-104) and adopted Ordinances 26-06 through 26-11. For each ordinance, the minutes list McCarey, Blick, Kian and Fine voting yes; Croson was absent. The public hearings drew no comments. Ordinance 26-06 rewrites the development-fee and affordable-unit rules. The others create the AH-9, AH-10, AH-11 and AH-12 districts and revise AH-4.

On April 16, 2026 the Committee adopted Ordinance 26-14, 5–0, raising the AH-6 district at 30 Mountain Boulevard from 26 units to 28, with 12 affordable instead of 10.

The districts set maximum unit counts and affordable shares.

DistrictSiteUnitsAffordable
AH-9Block 82, Lot 12.02 (Toll site)17655
AH-10155 Washington Valley Road6925% set-aside
AH-11149 Washington Valley / 11 North Road11528
AH-1241 Mountain Boulevard64at least 20
AH-4Block 85.01, Lot 2 (age-restricted)140at least 35
AH-630 Mountain Boulevard2812

The plan’s Table G shows 197 set-aside credits, 65 bonus credits, and 262 total credits. However, the listed set-asides add up to 219. The row totals add up to 307. The plan does not explain this difference. LocalWhy reports the table exactly as it is printed.

At the February 25 hearing the planner said the plan yields 262 credits, about 150 new affordable units and about 500 total new units. On April 16, nineteen residents spoke to the Committee about the Bardy property; three other speakers raised other matters. No site plan application for any of these districts appears in the Planning Board agendas LocalWhy reviewed through October 28, 2026.

Fourth Round housing and zoning, explained

Timeline

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

  1. In court Court sets Warren's Fourth Round obligation at 10 and 262 unitsJudge William G. Mennen's order fixed Warren's 2025–2035 affordable housing obligation at 10 present-need and 262 prospective-need units, after the Township had proposed 181.
  2. In court Court remands the Wagner Farm site-plan approvalA judge remanded the Planning Board's November 22, 2021 approval of the Wagner Farm supportive-needs project to the Board, which acted on the remand on October 27, 2025. The housing plan says the case remained pending.
  3. Milestone Township and Fair Share Housing Center sign a mediation agreementWarren and Fair Share Housing Center executed a mediation agreement on the Fourth Round plan, after the Township's housing element was challenged in the summer of 2025.
  4. In court Court approves the housing plan and dismisses Avalon's challengeJudge Mennen's Decision and Order approved Warren's Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, dismissed Avalon Bay's challenge, and gave the Township until March 16, 2026 to adopt implementing ordinances.
  5. Resolved Planning Board adopts the amended housing plan, 8–0The Planning Board adopted the Amended Housing Element and Fair Share Plan dated February 10, 2026, on an 8–0 roll call after a hearing at which two residents spoke.
  6. Resolved Committee adopts the affordable housing ordinances, 4–0 eachWarren adopted Ordinances 26-06 through 26-11, creating the AH-9 through AH-12 districts, revising AH-4 and rewriting development-fee and affordable-unit rules. Public hearings drew no comments.
  7. Resolved Ordinance 26-14 raises the AH-6 district to 28 unitsThe Committee adopted Ordinance 26-14, 5–0, increasing the AH-6 district at 30 Mountain Boulevard from 26 to 28 units and its affordable count from 10 to 12.

Explainers

Documents

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

Meetings

  • Planning Board Regular Meeting Agenda (PDF)

    The Planning Board's May 27, 2026 agenda listed a carry request from the Jewish Community Foundation for its Old Stirling Road subdivision and a hearing on 84 Liberty Corner Road, LLC's preliminary and final major subdivision. LocalWhy has not reviewed the minutes, so outcomes are not recorded here.

  • Planning Board Regular Meeting Agenda (PDF)

    The Planning Board approved a time extension for Rocco Paternostro's minor subdivision at 74 Morning Glory Road, with every member recorded in favor and none opposed. It heard testimony on the Jewish Community Foundation's four-lot subdivision on Old Stirling Road, where Helen Street residents raised runoff and frontage concerns, then carried the case to May 27.

  • Township Committee Regular Meeting

    The Township Committee adopted three ordinances 5–0, including the $900,000 public safety communications appropriation, the $100,000 Cherry Tree Lane drainage study and the AH-6 unit increase, and introduced the 2026 municipal budget, 5–0. It introduced a cap bank and a sewer easement ordinance, 5–0, and adopted consent resolutions 2026-114 through 2026-128, 5–0, including the Federal Reserve Bank redeveloper designation.

  • Planning Board Regular Meeting Agenda (PDF)

    The Planning Board approved a preliminary major subdivision for Flamingo Builders at 69, 71 and 73 Old Stirling Road, 3–0, with three members ineligible. It approved resolutions for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's amended site plan and a CRC Communities time extension, 6–0 each, and found the AH-6 affordable housing ordinance consistent with the Master Plan, 6–0.

  • Township Committee Regular Meeting

    The Township Committee adopted eight ordinances 4–0, including the $763,343 Mount Bethel Meeting House appropriation, a $445,000 Valley View Road bond, an affordable housing development-fee rewrite and six affordable housing zoning districts. It introduced three more, 4–0: $900,000 for public safety communications, $100,000 for the Cherry Tree Lane drainage study and an AH-6 unit increase. Consent resolutions 2026-093 through 2026-105 passed 4–0.

  • Planning Board Regular Meeting Agenda (PDF)

    The Planning Board adopted the amended Housing Element and Fair Share Plan 8–0 after a public hearing, then found six affordable-housing ordinances consistent with the Master Plan 8–0. It also adopted the Story Book Homes minor subdivision resolution 4–0. The planner said the plan carries 262 credits, about 150 new affordable units and about 500 total new units.

  • Township Committee Regular Meeting

    The Township Committee adopted Ordinances 26-01, 26-02 and 26-03 5–0, approved the Green Acres application for Dealaman Nature Trail and Pond 5–0, and introduced eight ordinances 5–0, including the Mount Bethel appropriation, a Valley View Road bond and six affordable-housing measures. It adopted fifteen consent resolutions, with one abstention, and a temporary office lease 5–0.

  • Planning Board Regular Meeting Agenda (PDF)

    The Planning Board adopted the Master Plan Reexamination Report 9–0 after a public hearing, approved Flamingo Builders' four-lot subdivision at 69–73 Old Stirling Road 7–2, and approved the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's amended site plan 9–0. It also adopted its 2026 meeting dates and two planning contracts 11–0.

  • Township Committee Regular Meeting

    The Township Committee adopted Ordinance 25-20 prohibiting signs on public property, 4–0, with Committeeman Blick absent. It approved police promotions, $90,000 in opioid settlement funds for school mentoring and a mediation agreement with Fair Share Housing Center, 4–0 each, with Mayor Lontai abstaining on the opioid funds. Consent resolutions covered road contracts, sewer work and a Park and Ride extension.

  • Planning Board Regular Meeting Agenda (PDF)

    The Planning Board voted 10–0, with Mr. Dealaman abstaining, to begin the Whispering Woods process as a possible settlement in Martins v. Planning Board. It extended the Dealaman subdivision approval to June 26, 2026, 9–0, carried two applications to January 12, 2026, and discussed the Master Plan ahead of a December 8 hearing.

  • Township Committee Regular Meeting

    The Committee adopted Ordinances 25-17 (a $975,000 bond for real property), 25-18 (an Open Space Advisory Committee) and 25-19 (a No-Knock List), each 5–0, and introduced Ordinance 25-20 barring signs on public property, 5–0. It agreed to a special bond referendum election on the Hofheimer House and set a December 10 lottery for 50 Park & Ride passes.

Sources for this overview

  1. Decision and Order, February 3, 2026
  2. Amended Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, February 10, 2026
  3. Mediation agreement, December 21, 2025
  4. Resolution 2025-308, mediation agreement authorization
  5. Planning Board minutes, February 25, 2026
  6. Township Committee minutes, March 12, 2026
  7. Township Committee minutes, April 16, 2026
  8. Ordinance 26-06, development fees and affordable unit rules
  9. Ordinance 26-11, AH-9 district
  10. Ordinance 26-14, AH-6 district
All issues The full timeline