Affordable Housing Ordinances Set For Vote In Brick

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township Council is set to hold second readings and votes on three ordinances to make changes to the town's master plan that address affordable housing mandates from the state.

The trio of ordinances are on the Township Council agenda for Tuesday's meeting, set for 7 p.m. at the municipal building, 401 Chambers Bridge Road.

Brick Township's obligations for the fourth round of affordable housing for 2025-2035 are 149 units of present need and 322 units of prospective need.

"Present need" refers to existing housing units deemed substandard/deficient and in need of repair. "Prospective need" estimates the number of new units that will be needed based on population trends.

The ordinances were introduced at the Feb. 24 council meeting by a 4-3 vote, with the three Republican members — Lisa Reina, Greg Cohen and Perry Albanese — voting against the introduction.

Reina called the affordable housing settlement "coersion" on the part of the state.

"Brick Township is already more than 90 percent developed," Reina said in a written statement. "Residents raise concerns every day about traffic congestion, overcrowded schools, strained emergency services, and the steady erosion of the quality of life that brought so many families here in the first place. Increasing permitted density under those conditions is not responsible planning."

"Supporters of the ordinances argued that rejecting them could expose Brick to future pressure for even higher density. We reject the idea that local government should be forced to govern under threat. Planning based on fear is not planning at all. This is not planning. This is coercion," the statement said.

Several towns joined in a lawsuit trying to overturn the 2024 state law that led to the fourth-round obligations, and asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency ruling halting it.

Justice Samuel Alito denied the request for an emergency injunction on March 3, allowing the affordable housing law to stand. Read more: NJ Towns Lose Battle In Supreme Court Over Affordable Housing

Towns have a deadline of March 15 to get their compliance measures in place.

One ordinance revises Chapter 245 to add language about affordable housing throughout the township's land use code. The second creates a "middle income overlay zone," which would permit 10 units per acre with a variety of attached-housing types.

The middle-income housing overlay zone includes about 72 acres of land spread among 50 different properties, primarily along major roads in Brick and "theoretically yields 720 total units and 144 affordable units," the statements said.

The third applies specifically to a settlement with the developer of a property at 975 Burnt Tavern Road, who had sued the township. It would allow 264 units of housing, 53 of which would be designated as affordable, on the 23-acre site that currently has warehouses, Shorebeat reported.

The property at 100 Drum Point Road, where a 60-unit townhouse project was rejected by the Brick Township Board of Adjustment in 2025, was specifically excluded from the town's affordable housing plans, a decision that received the support of the affordable housing adjudicator, officials said.