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Frenchtown planning board adopts limited master-plan reexamination and amends housing element
Summary
The Frenchtown Planning Board adopted a limited 2026 reexamination of its Master Plan and amended the 2025 Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, approving modest density changes and a program to permit four funded elder-cottage (ECHO) accessory units in R‑1 while noting funding and eligibility limits.
The Frenchtown Planning Board voted on Jan. 6 to adopt a limited reexamination of the borough’s Master Plan and to approve amendments to the 2025 Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, moves the board said are required by the town’s mediation settlement with the Fair Share Housing Center.
Planner Darlene Green presented the reexamination and changes the board recommended: permitting ECHO (elder cottage/accessory dwelling) units in the R‑1 zone with funding reserved for four units; raising density in the R‑8B zone from 14 to 20 units per acre; increasing the R‑8D zone density to 28 units per acre (a change that yields roughly 14 total units on that site after right‑of‑way exclusions); and explicitly adding multifamily/apartment uses to the Frenchtown Village rehabilitation area with an assigned density parameter.
Board members pressed Green on implementation details. She said the affordable-housing trust fund will pay for up to four ECHO units but that the borough is not obligated to subsidize units beyond that cap; additional ECHO units could be permitted without subsidy subject to deed restrictions and affordable‑housing rules. Members asked how the borough will define and verify “people with disabilities.” Several urged the board to adopt a clear definition (examples discussed included relying on the Americans with Disabilities Act or state definitions) and Green said administrative agents who run affordability programs likely could supply standard documentation.
Green said density increases reflect how lot-area is calculated under borough code (net acreage excludes rights‑of‑way), so nominal increases in density may produce relatively few additional units in practice. She also described corrections to tax maps and a revised unit‑set‑aside to meet the settlement requirement of three affordable units on the church/daycare site.
After public hearings and discussion, a motion to adopt the limited reexamination report dated Jan. 6, 2026 and a motion to adopt the amended Housing Element and Fair Share Plan passed on roll-call votes.
The board’s action sends the updated plan language forward for the required governing‑body endorsement and positions the borough to introduce related zoning and development‑fee ordinances in coming weeks.
