By Barbara A. Preston | Posted June 17
The Montgomery Planning Board will meet on Monday, June 23, at 5 pm to hear comments from residents and all interested parties regarding the township's proposed Fourth Round AH Housing Plan.
Don't be late! The hearing will end at 5:45 pm due to board member scheduling conflicts, and if necessary, will continue at 5 pm on Thursday, June 26.
The Kenvue property on Grandview and the 23 Orchard office complex site are included in the plan.
A developer's rendering for a 180-unit apartment complex for the corner of Route 206 and Orchard Road in Skillman.
Montgomery officials must adopt a new fair share housing plan and file it with the state by June 30. The plan must provide for the fulfillment of Montgomery’s new affordable housing obligation over the period between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2035. This is a state mandate.
Montgomery's 801-page plan calls for an additional 260 affordable housing units or credits, to be provided between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2035. The "credits" include new construction, extending the affordability deed restriction on some existing units, and bonus credits.
In addition to the 260 units, the township plan calls for renovations to 73 qualifying homes in town that might be in need of repairs due to their age or condition.
More than two dozen New Jersey towns have joined a Local Leaders for Responsible Planning consortium to halt the state's new affordable-housing round four mandate. The towns are currently involved in legal battles challenging the mandate, arguing the requirements are unfair and overly burdensome. These towns are seeking to reduce or delay their obligations to provide the extra affordable housing units. The core of the dispute revolves around the state's methodology for calculating each municipality's "fair share" of affordable housing, with some towns claiming the criteria disproportionately affect wealthier suburban communities.
Above: NJ towns in the Local Leaders for Responsible Planning consortium.
The consortium recently won partial relief in a June 11 court ruling. Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert T. Lougy rejected their bid to block some provisions but granted a reprieve on a June 30 deadline facing municipalities.
Montgomery is one of more than 200 NJ municipalities that agreed to comply with the state's Fourth Round Process. The risk of not complying is: 1. Loss of immunity from exclusionary-zoning lawsuits (builder’s remedy). 2. Loss of full authority over municipal zoning.
The Montgomery Township plan commits to the NJ Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Fourth Round prospective additional obligation of 260 units or credits.
The plan also calls for renovations to 73 existing units in town that might be in need of repairs due to their age, according to Township Administrator Lori Savron.
"A homeowner that meets the income qualifications could apply for assistance with renovations (new roof, windows, boiler, etc) and then the house becomes deed restricted for the income," she told The Montgomery News. "It’s a separate requirement than the production of affordable units."
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Montgomery Township's plan to meet the Round 4 requirements includes: Building a 180-unit apartment building on the 23 Orchard Road office complex property on the corner of Route 206; and, building 419 housing units at the Kenvue corporate headquarters site on the corner of Grandview and Route 601.
23 Orchard Road Office complex at the corner of Route 206 and Orchard Road in Skillman.
Scannapieco Development Corporation of Philadelphia (the owner 23 Orchard) approached township officials to redevelop a portion of the existing campus with an inclusionary housing development consisting of 180 units with a 20% set aside (or 36 affordable family rental units), according to the Montgomery's Round 4 Plan.
The inclusionary development would be located in the northeastern corner of the property. Scannapieco is in the process of renovating the existing research office building to attract new tenants and attain full occupancy. Their plan is to maintain the bulk of the existing facilities that constitute the research / office campus, but with the addition of the multifamily residential building, containing both market-rate and affordable rental dwellings.
Aerial view of the 23 Orchard Road concept rendering for the corner of Route 206 in Skillman.
E Khan, the developer of the Kenvue office complex site on Grandview Road in Skillman, is asking town officials to build a 417-unit housing development. It would include 70 affordable units on site and an additional 54 units offsite (as an extension of affordable controls of existing units.
As Kenvue closes its corporate office complex at 199 Grandview Road in Skillman, a developer for the site has stepped forward. E Khan Development of Malvern, PA, has approached township officials to redevelop the site with an inclusionary residential development consisting of 417 total units with a 29.7% set aside (or 124 affordable units).
"Kenvue is planned as a non-contiguous residential cluster, which would include the redevelopment of the former Kenvue campus and the existing multifamily developments of McKinley Commons and Montgomery Glen, both [are located off Blue Spring Road] and contain existing affordable family for-sale units whose affordability controls will expire in the Fourth Round," according the township's plan.
"This linkage allows the Kenvue redevelopment to address its affordable set-aside with both onsite units and with existing units at the other two sites. This results in the creation of 124 affordable units as a hybrid that allows for the creation of more open space on the Kenvue site.
The 417-unit housing plan for the Kenvue site. Grandview Road is to the right.
"The proposed affordable units would consist of the following:
• 70 affordable family rental units constructed on the Kenvue site
• 54 extensions of affordability control: Kenvue will make a total payment of no less than $1,080,000 to fund 35 extensions of affordability control on the family for-sale units at McKinley Commons and 19 extensions of affordability control on the family for-sale units at Montgomery Glen."
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A mix of other projects and initiatives would round out the plan to provide the township's Round 4 affordable housing plan are listed below. The Montgomery News has included only the highlights in this article.
It is important to note that township officials are doing the best they can to comply with a state mandate. In the prior round (1999-2025), they used existing non-residential properties that might be redeveloped into residential or mixed uses, as well as new developments that are 100% affordable, and therefore have a much lower density. An example of this is the Montgomery Senior Affordable Apartments Project.
Above: One of Montgomery Township's affordable housing projects. This three-story 71-unit apartment complex will be located next to the Montgomery Municipal Center, off Orchard Road in Skillman. It is now under construction.
Other ideas permitted by the state include:
Allowing accessory dwelling units, which is basically a smaller, independent residential dwelling unit located on the same lot as a stand-alone (i.e., detached) single-family home.
Extensions of controls on existing affordable units due to expire before July 1, 2035.
Converting existing properties to special-needs facilities.
Building affordable units developed within a half-mile of a transit facility or bus stop, which gets an extra ½ bonus credit. Every credit counts.
Please note, the Montgomery Township Planning Board meeting on Monday, June 23, 2025, starts at 5 pm instead of the previously noticed time of 7 pm. It will conclude at 5:45 pm due to board member scheduling conflicts.
A second meeting will be held, if needed, on Thursday, June 26 at 5 pm. Both meetings will be held in the Municipal Center Council Chambers, 100 Community Drive, Skillman, NJ. All interested persons may attend and be heard.
