Affordable Housing Ordinances, Well Replacement Set For Manchester Council Meeting

MANCHESTER, NJ — The Manchester Township Council has a busy agenda scheduled for its meeting Monday night, including introducing ordinances addressing its affordable housing obligations, replacing a well and more.

The meeting is set for 6 p.m. at town hall, 1 Colonial Drive.

The council has four ordinances on the agenda for second readings and votes, including one repealing an ordinance from 2024 that made changes to Manchester's land use rules.

According to the repeal ordinance, the 2024 ordinance made changes that did not receive the approval of the Pinelands Commission, which has a role in governing development in the environmentally sensitive Pinelands National Reserve. Manchester Township is entirely within the reserve.

The agenda also includes 11 ordinances that are up for first readings.

One ordinance is for the town to borrow $2.14 million to decommission one of its water wells and replace it in the western service area.

Another ordinance is to borrow $2.56 million for water utility improvements in the eastern service area including extending a water main along Route 70.

Five of the proposed ordinances relate to affordable housing. Under the fourth round of Mount Laurel affordable housing requirements, Manchester must provide 154 units to fulfill its present need and 412 units of prospective need, according to the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan agreement it filed with the state.

"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.

Towns were required by the state of New Jersey to have ordinances updating their land use regulations in place by March 15.

One of the proposed ordinances would create a new Pinelands Affordable Housing Zone — and remove the existing one — that addresses two agreements, including one involving the Heritage Minerals site and developers EETTSA LLC, and DR Horton.

That new zone would allow garden apartments, townhouses, and apartments over commercial properties along with several other uses. The minimum lot size would be 12 acres and would allow 8.65 units per acre. It applies to five parcels of land, two on Ridgeway Boulevard and three on Ridgeway Road.

One of the proposed ordinances would allow garden apartments and townhouses in other parts of Manchester.

Another proposed ordinance would revise the zoning districts.