Allendale says Fair Share settlement preserves downtown, secures $500,000 from Avalon Bay and sewer agreement

Summary

Allendale's mayor said the borough's fourth-round Fair Share Housing plan was approved after lengthy negotiations that shifted required density away from the downtown, reduced the borough's realistic development potential to four units and secured $500,000 in off-site improvements from Avalon Bay plus a sewer-connection agreement with Saddle River.

Allendale Mayor Amy Wilczynski said the borough has resolved its fourth-round Fair Share Housing obligations with an agreement that preserves the character of the downtown while addressing the state's affordability requirements.

The mayor told the council and public that the state's initial allocation for Allendale was 260 affordable units, later adjusted to 200 after local challenges to buildable-acre estimates. After negotiating and challenging components of the allocation the borough's realistic development potential (RDP) for the round was reduced to four units, Wilczynski said.

"We did not have to put any of our overlay zone on our downtown," Mayor Wilczynski said, describing the outcome as a defense of downtown character and a negotiated alternative to taller, denser development that the state had proposed.

Wilczynski said the settlement resolves a contested process that included appeals over a TWA (treatment works approval) sewer permit, litigation threats, and back-and-forth…

Allendale says Fair Share settlement preserves downtown, secures $500,000 from Avalon Bay and sewer agreement

Summary

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