Brielle planning board adopts amended Housing Element, approves Higgins Avenue and Route 71 overlay ordinances

The Brielle Planning/Zoning Board voted unanimously Feb. 17 to adopt amendments to the Borough’s Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan and to find five Council-introduced ordinances consistent with the Master Plan, setting the town on a path to file the amended plan with the state Affordable Housing dispute-resolution program and seek Superior Court review.

Planner Kendra Lelie, who presented the amendment, told the Board the town’s formal obligation under the new Fair Housing Act (P.L. 2024, c.2) is 419 affordable units through 2035 but that a vacant-land adjustment shows a realistic yield of 24 buildable units on local vacant parcels. She said the amended plan records site-specific credits, including 3 affordable units (and 3 bonus credits) at the M&D property at 628 Higgins Avenue; the approved Mumford project’s 25 units with seven special-needs units and 12 bonus credits; five affordable units for a municipal lot; and two for-sale homes on Borrie Avenue.

"We are under the gun and this all has to be done by March 15," Lelie said, describing the compressed timetable municipalities faced under the new law. Affordable housing attorney Jeff Surenian warned that missing deadlines could strip the Borough of immunity and leave it exposed to Builder’s Remedy litigation, saying of the statewide process, "this is why municipalities are going crazy." He and Lelie both said that if the amendments are approved by the Program and accepted by the Superior Court, Brielle should receive a Certificate of Compliance that limits developers’ ability to pursue Builder’s Remedy relief.

The amendments add a Higgins Avenue mixed-use overlay and expand the Route 71 corridor overlay so that proposed mixed-use and multi-family developments include on-site affordable housing. The Board also corrected mapping errors identified in Appendix C of the plan and fixed a mislabeled Vacant Land Analysis.

Multiple residents urged greater public access to the developer concept plan for the 4.6-acre Brielle Sports Club parcel, which Lelie said mediation placed at 18.8 units per acre (projected to yield about 76 units under the overlay). Nearby residents raised questions about potential 45-foot building heights, rear setbacks, buffer areas, traffic, parking and fire access; Lelie said those specifics are decided during later site-plan review and that the overlay sets the zoning envelope rather than a final site layout.

After the public comment period, the Board found the proposed HEFSP amendments "consistent with the goals and objectives of the Borough Master Plan" and adopted the resolution by roll call (Ayes: Mayor Frank Garruzzo; Councilman Eliot Colon; Karen Brisben; G. Kevin Callahan; Amber Fernicola; Jay Jones; Corinne Trainor). The Board also voted unanimously to find Ordinances 1162–1166 (the Higgins Avenue overlay, Borrie Avenue AH‑1, edits to Sec. 21‑13, the Route 71 corridor overlay and a new Affordable Housing section in Chapter 9) not inconsistent with the Master Plan.

Board counsel directed that the adopted amendments be filed with the Affordable Housing Program and that affordable-housing counsel present the adoption to the Borough Council for endorsement. Lelie told the Board the ordinances were scheduled for Council consideration at its Feb. 23 meeting. If the Program and the Superior Court accept the filings, the Borough would seek a Certificate of Compliance to limit the risk of Builder’s Remedy litigation; if the filings are not accepted, Surenian said the Borough would be vulnerable to legal challenges.

What happens next: the Borough’s affordable housing counsel will submit the adopted amendments to the Program and seek the court’s review; any site plans relying on the new overlays will return to the Planning Board for detailed review, where parking, setbacks, heights and buffering will be decided.