Updated: Aug 11
By Barbara A. Preston | July 10, 2025
About 40 Montgomery Township neighbors formed a coalition to express their frustration with their governing officials regarding the adoption of what they say is a half-baked plan to provide 260 state-mandated affordable housing units or credits in Montgomery — particularly concerning the former Johnson & Johnson (now Kenvue) property on rural Grandview Road in Skillman, NJ.
The 417-unit housing plan for the Kenvue corporate site in Skillman. Grandview Road is to the right.
The Montgomery Planning Board approved the plan on June 26, and the Township Committee unanimously adopted a resolution in support of the plan on July 3, despite vehement opposition from a large group of Montgomery residents.
>> Click here to view the 2025 Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, dated 6-13-2025
(This is the plan approved by the planning board and township committee).
Dissatisfied residents quickly rallied and met in the Montgomery Library community room on Wednesday, July 9 to organize a formal protest, and to challenge the plan in court if necessary. According to state guidelines, they have until August 31 to file a complaint with the state.
Notable members of the community who attended the initial meeting included former mayor Devra Keenan, GOP candidates for Township Committee Chris Venis and George DeSanctis, School Board member Joanna Filak, Community organizer Nancy Castelino and Planning Board member Paul Blodgett, who was the only "no" vote on the plan.
Grandview Road in Skillman is the location proposed for a 417-unit inclusive affordable housing development.
Photo by Barbara A. Preston.
Blodgett said he attended the citizen's meeting because he cares about the community. He voted no to the plan because, after listening to 5.5 hours of public outcry, he could not vote yes.
"I could not in good conscience vote for a plan that bypassed meaningful public input and risked long-term harm to both trust and town character. I will continue working to ensure this plan is amended to honor the true intent of the affordable housing law and the interests of the people it is meant to serve.”
Neighbors for Smart Planning (NSP) participants say they hope to still have input into the plan, and for their voices to be heard.
The citizens already built a website. They plan to grow their website, to organize protests with yard signs, write letters to the editor, and to attend local government meetings to urge their leaders to rethink the plan. They also said they hope to come up with more "creative options."
>> Click here to view the Save Montgomery.org website.
The website aims to "cut through the confusion with facts you can trust. We're not fighting affordable housing – we're fighting for smart planning that works for everyone."
One of the more interesting suggestions from the crowd that gathered in the Montgomery Library community room on Wednesday, July 9, was this:
Take the 801-page township plan and submit it to ChatGPT or Gemini and with the question 'How can Montgomery Township best provide 260 affordable housing units on credits in the next 10 years?' Also, 'How can residents best fight Montgomery's 801-page plan.'
If only Artificial Intelligence (AI) could solve this problem in a way that would leave all stakeholders satisfied.
The next meeting is online via Zoom. All are invited to join.
Topic: Neighbors for Smart Planning aka Save Montgomery Community Meeting
Time: Jul 16, 2025, 7 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
>> Click here for the Zoom Meeting Link.
On July 3, Montgomery Township Committee unanimously voted to adopt Resolution 25-7-226 – adopting Fourth Round Spending Plan and Endorsing the 2025 Housing Element and Fair Share Plan.
Johnson & Johnson hired I.M. Pei & Partners to design their Baby Products Center on their Skillman campus in 1976. Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei designed many high-profile buildings, including the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio, The Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, and the National Gallery of Art East Building in Washington, D.C.
Mayor Neena Singh spoke to the residents who attended the Township Committee meeting on the evening of a long holiday weekend to speak out against the plan.
"We sincerely thank all residents who participated in this meeting. This is really a compliance document, and we are listening to everybody, yes. We take accountability that enough people didn't know about the meetings. We've been told having this in the .... Courier News [as a legal notice] is not helpful. The township is discussing other avenues of posting," Mayor Singh said.
"We've also had a conversation with our attorney and the township administrator regarding listening sessions, and that is something we will work on.
"None of us want to vote yes on this plan. ... It's really hard. But we have to make a financial decision at this point. We cannot put the township in jeopardy by having a lawsuit.
Vincent Barragan, who is seeking another three-year on Township Committee the November General Election, said he takes accountability for the lack of communications. "We will work to communicate, whether there are 60 people in the room or one person."
"This is going to come to a vote [tonight]," Barragan said. "A lot of trusted advisors have told me, hey maybe this is a time to vote no for something. But, I never liked to shirk away from responsibility. I acknowledge the consequences if we don't approve a not-so-perfect but a compliant plan. I will vote in the affirmative because I know that if this doesn't pass, it will be a worse case scenario for this town.
"Whether my term is just for the rest of this year, or another three years, I will continue to work to ensure that we do take the extra step to get community input as we go forward."
Mike Martin, who was appointed to Township Committee in February to fill an unexpired term, is running for election to a three-year term in November.
Martin said, "This issue is really about one of balance. There's a fiscal responsibility here. There are environmental concerns. And then there are forces being thrust upon us — corporate relocations ... whether we can attract another corporation ... I was appointed to this board in February, but my number one choice was always to find another corporate partner to take over that site. Attempts were made."
"There was the possibility of this property being turned into light manufacturing. I don't think anybody here wants to see trucks going in and out of that site, with all the noise," he said.
Audience members yelled, "Ask us!"
Martin continued, "I think [the plan] is the right decision. Financially, we have a situation where our township revenues rely on residents. For a corporate site to convert to housing, just think of the residents that could be there and their tax contributions. We are probably talking about at least $4M. Can our schools handle additional capacity, yes they can."
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Patricia Taylor Todd said two things.
"It is not easy to be our our position, to make a decision that we feel is in good faith, and to be attacked for it," she said. "Absolutely, we should have and could have communicated better, but we cannot do anything about the past. Give us the opportunity to do better."
Finally, Dennis Ahn said, "With all the affordable housing information being thrown at us since February, I was overwhelmed."
He apologized for not seeking constituents' feedback earlier in the process. "Now, we need to support each other and move forward, because that's the best we can do right now."
The mayor and township committee also voted unanimously on July 3 to join Local Leaders for Responsible Planning (LLRP) to fight the Round 4 affordable housing mandate in court.
Multiple residents at the citizen's library meeting asked, "What does it mean?" Some are suggesting that Township Committee hold a town hall meeting where residents can ask questions, and be better informed about exactly what Montgomery expects to gain through participation in the LLRP lawsuit.
The LLRP is a coalition of 27 New Jersey municipalities, led by Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali, that are challenging the state's affordable housing mandates. The coalition's lawsuit seeks to reduce obligations to "build" the extra affordable housing units. The dispute also questions the state's methodology for calculating each municipality's "fair share" of affordable housing.
GOP candidate for Township Committee Chris Venis attended the Neighbors for Smart Planning meeting in the library and has joined the cause — differentiating his stance on this issue from his Democratic opponents.
“It is wonderful to see residents come together in a room full of many different backgrounds — parents, business owners, white collar, blue collar, agricultural, Republicans, Democrats, Independents," Venis said. "None of that mattered, but the one thing that was evident was everyone was there as a family. The disastrous affordable housing mandates forced upon communities is devastating to residents. Montgomery does not have the infrastructure to handle e what the township committee passed.
"The amount of traffic on Rt 601 will look like Rt 206. The rural character: gone. The number of cars will amount to thousands more every day. This township committee has allowed this. They did not even challenge the original number given to us by the state.
"Their inexperience and lack of leadership is becoming more evident every day. George De Sanctis and I will deliver that experience and leadership."
