Monroe Planning Board adopts amended housing element, recommends two zoning ordinances to implement settlement

The Monroe Township Planning Board voted unanimously to adopt an amended housing element and Fair Share plan that implements a settlement with Fair Share Housing Center, the board announced.

At a public meeting where the board reviewed three related documents, Mr. McGowan summarized the settlement that adds three sites to Monroe’s Round Four affordable housing obligations. The sites are: Buckalew Avenue (block 33.03 lots 3.01 and 3.02), described as an age‑restricted project of 67 units with 20 affordable units; a site on the township’s eastern border with Manalapan (blocks 36/36.02) described as 100 units with 22 affordable units; and the former Bald Eagle site (block 4 lot 14.01 on Route 33) described as 186 units with 37 affordable units. The board adopted the amended housing element by roll call.

Christine Bell, identified in the meeting as the township’s affordable housing planner and sworn to provide testimony, said the amendment removes 70 previously counted nursing‑home credits (identified in testimony as the Cranbury/Cranberry Care Center) from the ordinance crediting and replaces them with credits tied to the three settlement projects. "You have till March 15th to do that," Bell said, referring to the statutory deadline to finalize amendments that preserve immunity from builder’s‑remedy lawsuits.

A committee member asked why the nursing‑home credits were removed. Mr. McGowan said Fair Share Housing Center objected to counting nursing‑home residents as equivalent to newly constructed affordable housing; he said the judge sided with Fair Share Housing on that issue, which prompted the negotiated settlement to add newly zoned affordable units.

The board also reviewed two ordinances introduced by the Township Council, O‑2‑2026‑003 and O‑2‑2026‑004, which staff described as zoning changes to allow the settlement projects to proceed as by‑right developments for density and affordable‑unit counts and as cleanup amendments for Village Center 3 and the Highway Development District. After discussion and a public‑comment period with no speakers, the board recommended both ordinances to the governing body by roll call.

The board entered closed session for a litigation update on the Federal Business Centers case against the Planning Board. After returning, the board moved to accept the settlement outlined by its attorney and approved that motion by unanimous roll call. The meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn.

What happens next: The Planning Board’s recommendations and memorializing resolutions will be referred to the Township Council for consideration and final action; the amended housing element and the Council ordinances must be adopted before the March 15 deadline to preserve the township’s position under the applicable housing law.