West Windsor planning board adopts revised housing element tied to Fair Share settlement
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Summary
The West Windsor Planning Board unanimously approved a revised Housing Element and Fair Share Plan on Feb. 4, 2026, designed to meet a fourth‑round obligation of 480 units under a settlement with Fair Share Housing Center; the plan pairs zoning changes at multiple sites with spending‑plan programs and administrative ordinances to be finalized and referred to council.
The West Windsor Planning Board voted unanimously on Feb. 4 to adopt a revised Housing Element and Fair Share Plan aimed at satisfying the township's affordable‑housing obligations under recent state law and a settlement with Fair Share Housing Center.
David Novak, a professional planner with Burgess Associates, presented the plan (dated Jan. 9, 2026) and said it replaces the town's June 2025 housing plan. Novak told the board the state adopted new affordable‑housing legislation on March 20, 2024, that reassigned functions previously handled by the Council on Affordable Housing to the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). He said the revised plan implements a settlement requiring adoption and implementing ordinances by March 15, 2026.
"This housing plan is essentially designed to effectuate that settlement agreement," Novak said, summarizing why the board was voting on the revised document.
Under Novak's presentation, the township's prior‑round obligation (1987–1999) of 899 credits is satisfied by earlier components; the township's third‑round obligation (1999–2025) of 1,500 credits also remains satisfied by existing projects. The plan addresses the fourth round (2025–2035) by proposing components that Novak estimated would produce 411 new units plus 96 bonus credits — 507 credits total — to meet the 480‑unit fourth‑round obligation with a small buffer.
Site‑level changes and new zoning districts described in the presentation include: - A BMS site at U.S. Route 1 and Nassau Park Boulevard proposed as a new R5E district, estimated to allow about 650 total units (including 106 affordable/portable units) and to be eligible for 81 bonus credits. - A Woodmont commercial site rezoned R5F to produce about 35 residential units including nine affordable units. - An Obozal Placa site proposed as R5G for roughly 80 units including 20 affordables, eligible for 10 bonus credits. - An expanded BXP Carnegie Center project (R5H) and a newly added BXP Carnegie Center 901 site (R5I) together expected to add hundreds of residential units with dozens of affordable units. - A K. Hovnanian site within the Princeton Junction redevelopment area proposed under an RP7B overlay, estimated to produce 37 units including 10 affordable units and eligible for five bonus credits for proximity to NJ Transit. - A Tractor Supply/ALR site (R5J) identified to produce about 216 units including 54 affordable units. - Preservation of the Eden Oak Lane group home (Block 35, Lot 17), a licensed group home with four beds counted in the plan's inclusionary components.
Novak also described a spending plan of programs intended to supplement development‑based credits, including a township rehabilitation program, affordability assistance, foreclosure‑and‑bankruptcy assistance, new closing‑cost assistance for qualified households, homeowners‑association fee support, and a veterans ownership maintenance program.
Board members questioned several details and requested clarifying text and table edits — notably how the plan translates 411 units and 96 bonus credits into 507 total credits in the chart on page 83. Novak agreed to add explanatory language and to carry numeric edits through the tables.
Members also debated language in the spending plan about bonding for future group‑home projects. One paragraph stated the township "reserves the right to bond if needed"; board members asked to delete or soften the most‑committal language. Novak and counsel agreed to remove the final sentence and retain a brief intent‑to‑bond clause if revenues proved insufficient, and to change one instance of "will" to "may" per board direction.
At the conclusion of the discussion the board voted to adopt Planning Board Resolution 2026‑R4 ("Adoption of the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan"). The motion was moved by Mr. Biggs and seconded by Curtis; the clerk recorded unanimous yes votes from the members listed in the roll call, approving the resolution and authorizing staff to finalize the housekeeping edits and coordinate required implementing ordinances to be referred back to council.
The board's action implements a settlement the township reached with Fair Share Housing Center and several developers after objections were filed to the June 2025 plan; Novak said the township must adopt the revised plan and implement ordinances by March 15, 2026. The administrative ordinances referenced (an affordable housing trust fund ordinance, an affordable housing regulations ordinance, and a mandatory set‑aside ordinance) will be prepared separately and referred to council for adoption and planning‑board consistency review.
The board thanked staff and counsel for their work on the plan and adjourned the meeting.
