BRIELLE — The borough has released an updated affordable housing plan, scaling down the Borrie Avenue project that was under fire from residents and adding a project at the Brielle municipal lot. The plan will be up for approval by the planning board and borough council at meetings this month.
The number of units at the Borrie Avenue location has been reduced from five to two, and five affordable housing units have been added to the current location of the Brielle municipal building, at 601 Union Lane.
The “May 2025 Third Round & Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan” was posted to the borough’s website on Friday, May 2. The plan will go before the Brielle Planning Board on May 13 at 7 p.m. If approved, the plan would then go before the Brielle Borough Council on May 27. The May 13 meeting of the planning board will be held at the elementary school.
BORRIE AVENUE
The Borrie Avenue project was the subject of an information session on Tuesday, April 29, held at Borough Hall, with borough officials and affordable housing experts attending. A large turnout of residents spoke against the five-unit project on Borrie Avenue.
“The council, planning board and affordable housing group challenged ourselves to say, ‘Is there anything else we could be looking at?'” said Councilman Eliot Colon, who also is a member of the affordable housing committee. “The community really provided a lot of feedback and positive energy, healthy discussion around it. I know as part of this committee, it’s not easy because there seems to be no perfect choice.”
Colon continued, “I think what gets lost sometimes is we do value the feedback we were getting and those constructive comments and suggestions…we feel that this is going to be the best compromise for the community and it gets through the affordable housing situation we’re in, which I believe is an overall win-win for the town.”
The updated proposed plan for Borrie Avenue, a borough-owned property, is for the borough to enter into a developer’s agreement with a nonprofit developer to provide for two family for-sale units. According to the plan, the borough will seek an ordinance to permit the two-family use at this property specifically and development of two family homes shall comply with existing R-3 zoning regulations.
MUNICIPAL BUILDING
The municipal building site, which is also owned by the borough, is a 1.4 acre lot. According to the plan, the borough will enter into a developer’s agreement with a nonprofit developer and work to create one structure on a portion of the lot and provide for five family rental units. The plan states, “The borough intends to redevelop the site with a new municipal building and provide an area along the southern property line for the construction of one structure that will accommodate five family rental units.”
Planning Board Chairperson and member of the affordable housing committee Corinne Trainor said, “The new borough building is not impacted. The borough has an architect designing the new building, and the borough engineer handling the site work affirms that we can make the proposed plan work.”
The two units at 636-638 Borrie Ave. and the five on Union Lane are both 100% projects, meaning all units in both projects will be 100% affordable housing.
OTHER PROJECT LOCATIONS
Other locations proposed in the borough’s plan include the M&D Two site at 628 Higgins Ave. with three affordable housing family rental units and three rental bonus credits, totaling six credits; and Roger Mumford Homes on Rathjen Road, with two affordable housing family rental units and seven special needs bedrooms and three rental bonus credits, totaling 12 credits.
The May 2025 plan explains that the borough undertook a current vacant land analysis which supports a realistic development potential (RDP) of 24 units.
In addition to these three proposed projects, the plan includes details of the Hightide Brielle LLC builders remedy site. The plan states that the borough is in settlement negotiations with Hightide Brielle LLC. The developer’s complaint seeks approval of 101 total units with 16 units set aside as affordable to low- and moderate-income households.
The plan states, “The proposed project is clearly contrary to sound land use planning. Nonetheless, the borough is willing to include the site within a future Higgins Avenue Corridor Redevelopment Plan and to zone the site at 9, a density consistent with the M &D site also located on Higgins Avenue, because the site could be developed in accordance with sound planning at that density.”
A chart in the updated plan labeled “Satisfaction of the Third Round 24 Unit RDP” shows 19 units and six bonus credits, which equates to 25 units, meaning a surplus of one unit. The projects included are: M&D Two 628 Higgins Ave., Roger Mumford Homes Rathjen Road, Borrie Avenue and the municipal building.
PRIOR AND THIRD ROUND UNMET NEED
According to the plan, the borough will use the proposed Higgins Avenue Corridor Redevelopment Plan, a mandatory set-aside ordinance and an affordable housing ordinance to address prior and third round unmet need obligations:
“The borough will perform an Area in Need of Redevelopment and draft a redevelopment plan for the Higgins Avenue Corridor … and will work with developers and property owners for the development of a redevelopment plan that will provide a meaningful opportunity for affordable housing. It is anticipated that the study will be completed by Aug. 31, 2025.”
The borough will adopt a mandatory set-aside ordinance that will require multi-family housing units to include an affordable component.
The plan also includes a description of the Route 71 Overlay District, stating: “The borough proposes to adopt an overlay district for the parcels that abut Route 71 for mixed-use and multi-family housing with densities ranging from 10 to 12 dwelling units per acre. The Route 71 Overlay District is approximately 15 acres in size.”
According to the plan, an overlay zone is a zoning option that allows an applicant to develop at higher densities for residential development provided they set aside at least 20% of the units as affordable housing available to low-and moderate-income households.
SUITABLE, APPROVABLE, AVAILABLE & DEVELOPABLE
According to the borough’s updated plan, the affordable housing rules require municipalities to designate sites that are “suitable, approvable, available and developable.”
A suitable site is adjacent to compatible land uses, has access to appropriate streets and is consistent with the environmental policies, according to the updated plan.
An approvable site means a site that may be developed for low- and moderate-income housing in a manner consistent with the rules and regulations of all agencies with jurisdiction over the site. A site may be approvable although it is not currently zoned for low- and moderate-income housing.
An available site means a site with clear title, free of encumbrances which preclude development for low- and moderate-income housing.
A developable site has access to appropriate water and sewer infrastructure and is consistent with the applicable areawide quality management plan or is included in an amendment to the areawide water quality management plan submitted to and under review by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
— Alison Manser Ertl contributed to this story.
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