Howell's 319-Unit Affordable Housing Project Carried Over To Oct.

HOWELL, NJ — The Howell Planning Board had a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss the "Views at Monmouth Manor" development project, which would add 319 units for low-to-moderate-income households.

The discussion was carried over to a future meeting on October 7.

Some members of the Planning Board voiced their opinion against a development of this size, but the board's attorney warned that if the proposal was rejected the courts might mandate an even denser development, according tothe Asbury Park Press.

"Frankly I'm appalled that we have to provide affordable housing," board chairman Brian Tannenhaus said Tuesday, according to the online publication. "This tells me nothing more than how screwed up the state is."

The units come as part of an ongoing settlement with the Fair Share Housing Center, which sued several New Jersey municipalities in the 2010s for lack of affordable housing. In 2018, a judge determined that Howell must build 895 "credits" worth of affordable housing by 2025, according to the Asbury Park Press.

READ MORE: Howell Planners To Review 319-Unit Housing Plan On Thursday

The 319-unit plan was originally scheduled to review in September 2020 and has been controversial among residents.

The current application was originally scheduled to be heard on Jan. 7, when it was carried to Feb. 4 with no further notice. On Feb. 4 it was adjourned to a future date with a new notice. On May 20 it was carried to July 15 with no further notice and on July 15 it was adjourned to a future date with a new notice.

The project has also drawn criticism from other officials in town, including Howell Township Mayor Theresa Berger and former Deputy Mayor Evelyn Malsbury-O'Donnell, concerned with overdevelopment in town and protection of wildlife species.

"A lynx (bobcat) was sited on the property which is a protected endangered species," Joan Osborne of the Howell Environmental Commission wrote in November 2020. "We are concerned with the loss of habit[at]."

The development is set to be divided into 72 market-rate single-family lots, 155 market-rate townhome residential units and 92 condominiums residential units.

Developers are also proposing two surface area basins, two monument style site identification signs, refuse enclosures, landscape and lighting improvements and parking between Fort Plains Road and Sunnyside Road.