Orange council approves two 23‑year tax abatements for Main Street projects amid resident outcry

The City of Orange Township Municipal Council on June 16 approved two 23‑year tax exemptions and associated financing for large Main Street redevelopment projects after a lengthy public-comment period in which residents and advocates called the deals excessive and insufficiently transparent.

Residents packed the public-comment portion to press the council on why projects of very different sizes would receive the same 23‑year abatement. “If this project is a sound investment, let the developer pay standard property taxes just like the rest of us,” said Gloria Boseman, a local resident who urged the council to stop routinely approving long abatements without stronger community benefits.

Business administrator Chris Hartwark explained the administration’s approach to negotiating community benefit and abatement terms. He said tax-abatement length and other concessions are determined by project pro formas and the relationship between estimated annual gross revenue and construction costs. “When you do the calculations of gross revenue versus costs… the actual number of years for the abatement can be very similar,” he said in reply to questions comparing a roughly $200 million, 457‑unit project and a smaller $27–30 million, 104‑unit project.

Council members voted to adopt Ordinance 23‑2026 (financial agreement and 23‑year exemption for VA 50M Urban Renewal LLC; approximately 457 units) and Ordinance 24‑2026 (23‑year exemption for NJT 2022‑0509 Urban Renewal LLC; approx. $27–30 million, 104 units). Both measures passed by roll call vote (5 yes, 2 absent).

Opponents pressed several related points: whether the developer-hosted hiring workshops occurred and how many local residents were hired; why so few or no affordable units are included; and how the city determines what counts as an adequate community benefit. Alicia Rodriguez asked for documentation of the developer workshops and local hiring counts and requested clearer public availability of ordinance files. Several speakers framed abatements as a driver of displacement and rising rents in a city with many households earning well below regional averages.

Hartwark said developers typically commit to workshops and community benefits in financial agreements and community benefit agreements (CBAs). He described how the city sometimes uses a per‑unit cash contribution formula (for example, $4,000 per unit) to calculate a CBA amount, and that detailed architectural and construction cost work remains the developer’s responsibility until they provide final drawings and budgets.

The council also approved bond ordinances (Ordinance 18‑2026 and Ordinance 20‑2026) authorizing redevelopment area bonds to finance public‑realm improvements tied to specific redevelopment parcels on Main and Oakwood, each appropriating $150,000. City staff said those funds will be used for sidewalks, curbs and street improvements and explained that taxes will be paid to the city until a project reaches substantial completion (as defined by temporary or final certificates of occupancy).

Supporters of the redevelopment said the projects will spur investment and improve infrastructure; critics said the public return is too small relative to the tax shelter offered developers. Some residents urged the council to adopt stronger local affordability definitions and to require clearer proof of local hiring before approving abatements.

The council did not change the abatement terms on the floor. Officials said the deals emerged from months of negotiation and that altering them further could make the projects unworkable. Several council members encouraged residents to request detailed financials from the business administrator’s office for a line‑by‑line review.

What’s next: both financial agreements are now authorized and the projects will proceed through planning and construction milestones; the council also directed the planning staff and law department to coordinate reviews of scattered‑site redevelopment and related zoning issues at a later date.