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Highlands Land Use Board adopts housing-element amendment, appoints interim secretary and board engineer; solar project carried to April
Summary
At a special meeting the Highlands Land Use Board adopted an amendment to the borough's fourth-round housing element and fair share plan, approved administrative resolutions (interim secretary, continued engineering services with Roberts Engineering Group), and carried a contested Miller Street renovation application to April 9 for further engineering review.
The Highlands Land Use Board voted at a special meeting to adopt an amendment to the borough's fourth-round housing element and fair share plan, approve several administrative resolutions including an interim board secretary and continued engineering services with Roberts Engineering Group, and carry a solar-to-single-family renovation application at 44 Miller Street to the board's April 9 meeting for further review.
A committee member addressing the board said the amendment's changes were modest. "The changes are minimum, as the planner said," the committee member said, urging the board to move the amendment forward. The board then voted on the amendment (identified in the meeting as LUB 26-11); the motion passed following a roll-call vote.
The board also approved a resolution to appoint Renee Fratton as interim board secretary to fill a vacancy and administered the oath of office. The chair asked Fratton to repeat the oath and the oath was recorded on the meeting record.
On professional services, the board approved a resolution continuing Roberts Engineering Group as the land use board engineer for 2026 and authorized a non-fair-and-open contract for professional engineering services; Cameron Corrine of Roberts Engineering Group introduced themself to the board during that portion of the agenda.
Longer discussion centered on an old-business application (AUB25-10) for work at 44 Miller Street, a project that previously appeared before the board in November and December. Applicant representative Brad Basham told the board the client had revised the design and "made it a very big decision to modify the plan to a single family home." Basham said the team submitted updated plans dated 03/12/2026 in response to recent engineer comments.
Board professionals focused on technical inconsistencies across plan sets: building footprint figures that differ between sheets (transcript references to 2,475, 2,032 and 1,988 square-foot figures), differences in what is counted as building cover versus footprint, proposed eave reductions of 10 inches, and grading/limit-of-disturbance items. The board engineer pressed the applicant for clarity on total disturbance and laterals; the engineer noted the file shows prior permits and inspections and asked that the applicant reconcile all changes in a clean resubmission.
Given remaining engineering comments and the need for the applicant and professionals to coordinate, the board agreed to carry the Miller Street application to the April 9 meeting at 7 p.m. with "no further notice required," as stated during the meeting. Members and staff said the postponement would give time to resolve outstanding plan inconsistencies before a final hearing.
Other administrative items approved at the special meeting included a two-year extension for a Locust Street variance (referenced in the record as an extension for LW Management and Maintenance, LLC, Block 101, Lot 27) and approval of minutes and routine reports. The meeting adjourned after the carried-item decision.
What's next: the Miller Street application (AUB25-10) will be carried to the board's April 9 meeting for additional engineering review and updated plans; the adopted housing-element amendment and administrative resolutions were recorded as approved during the special meeting.
