Linden City Council adopts package of zoning and redevelopment changes to spur affordable housing

LINDEN CITY ' The Linden City Council adopted a package of zoning and redevelopment ordinances Tuesday intended to expand opportunities for affordable housing by offering developers greater density in exchange for a required 20% affordable-unit set-aside.

The council approved a sequence of measures on second reading, including inclusionary rezones and affordable-housing overlay districts, a municipal affordable housing and development-fee ordinance, and redevelopment plans for Chandler Avenue, Rosel Street and Southwood Avenue. Council members moved and passed each ordinance after public comment; roll-call votes recorded affirmative votes from the mayor—s council majority on each measure.

The package is Linden—s central response to a long-standing state obligation under the Fair Housing Act and related administrative rules. "This is allowing developers — if you build affordable housing, we're going to let you build much bigger and much denser," one council speaker explained when describing the inclusionary approach, adding that "the market units subsidize the affordable units." That is the basic structure of the overlay and inclusionary provisions the council enacted.

Why it matters: Linden has repeatedly cited a statutory figure that is large (commonly cited in public comment as 787 units), but city staff told the council the realistic development potential (RDP) — the number the city can realistically be expected to accommodate given its built environment — is far smaller. A city official named Dan said the RDP calculates to roughly 24 units; the special counsel later corrected the number to 23 during public comment. "We don't have vacant land," Dan told the meeting; "that number goes down to 24. That's what's called our realistic RDP."

What the ordinances do: The council's measures take several related approaches: - Create inclusionary rezones and Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) districts that allow owners who opt in to develop at higher density in exchange for a 20% affordable set-aside; the municipality does not directly subsidize the affordable units in these deals, staff said. - Adopt a municipal affordable housing ordinance and a development-fee schedule to direct monies into a local affordable housing trust fund (cited state authorities included "the Fair Housing Act, Uniform Housing Affordability Controls and NJAC 599-1" in the ordinance text). - Approve redevelopment plans for Chandler Avenue (planned density cited at about 75 units per acre, producing roughly 12 affordable units under the 20% model), Rosel Street (discussed as a potential 100% affordable project on one site, with proposals discussed in public comment ranging from 60 to a larger number of units) and amendments to the Southwood Avenue redevelopment plan that increase allowable density and insert affordable-unit requirements into a later phase.

Public reaction and property-owner concerns: Several residents and business owners spoke during the hearings and during public comment. Carlos Rivas and John Kaser repeatedly pressed why the city had not required affordable units earlier when larger developments went up, and argued the city had failed to collect nonresidential developer fees in prior years. "It is my opinion there are businesses here that owe us millions that we have not collected," Rivas said in the public-comment period. John Kaser called the council—s work "a city trying to assemble compliance pieces all at once" rather than a long-term plan.

A property owner whose business operates as AJ Aluminum said he had not received individual notice that his parcel might be subject to overlay zoning and asked whether the ordinance would strip his existing rights; staff replied that an overlay preserves the underlying zoning and creates an optional pathway for higher-density redevelopment with a 20% set-aside. "It's an option," the attorney said, "and if you choose not to, you choose not to."

Votes at a glance: The council moved and carried approval of each ordinance on the agenda (7013—19) during the meeting. Roll calls showed the council majority voting in favor on each ordinance. A batch of routine resolutions (2026-147 through 2026-151) was adopted; one council member recorded a "no" vote on the resolutions roll call.

What happens next: The ordinances create legal pathways and incentives for developers to propose projects that include affordable units; they do not themselves build units. Staff said the affordable housing trust fund (sourced by development fees and credits) and prospective developers— interest will determine whether and when projects move from plan to construction. Council members and counsel encouraged property owners and developers to meet with the city attorney—s office to discuss site-specific questions.

The council closed public comment, announced forthcoming conference meetings on March 16 and March 17, 2026, and adjourned. The ordinances now create the framework the city will use as it pursues the adjusted realistic development obligations and seeks proposals from developers.