Tag: #redevelopment

The Middletown Township Committee introduced an ordinance Monday that would permit up to 450 homes on the Circus Liquors property along Route 35, taking a legislative step required by the court-approved settlement of a three-year affordable-housing lawsuit.

The October 19, 2026, vote advanced Ordinance 2026-3544 to a November 9 public hearing. It did not approve construction or a final site plan. If the committee adopts the ordinance, a designated redeveloper would still have to submit engineered plans to the Middletown Planning Board for review.

The ordinance and attached redevelopment plan detail the housing types, building heights, affordable-housing requirements and infrastructure standards that would apply to the approximately 52-acre property. The 450-home figure is a permitted maximum, not a guaranteed buildout.

The Middletown Township Committee is scheduled to introduce an ordinance Monday that would adopt a redevelopment plan for the Circus Liquors property on Route 35, beginning the municipal approval process required by a court-approved affordable housing settlement.

Ordinance 2026-3544 is the first local legislative step toward allowing as many as 450 homes on the property, including 68 affordable units if the full project is built. Introduction would not amount to final adoption or development approval.

The action matters because the New Jersey Superior Court has set a November 10 deadline for Middletown to adopt the plan and take other steps needed to implement the settlement of a builder’s remedy lawsuit filed more than three years ago by AAMHMT Property LLC.

The Oceanport Planning Board on March 10 held an advisory “courtesy review” of updated redevelopment plans for Monmouth Park, including Phase II youth sports fields and an expanded residential component.

Board counsel and project representatives said the agenda item was not an application hearing and the board had no authority to approve or deny it. Counsel described it as a state-agency presentation required under New Jersey law when a governmental or state agency is using public funds and appears before the planning board for recommendations. In the meeting, attorney Jennifer Phillips Smith said she appeared on behalf of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) and described NJSEA as “the state entity that owns the” property.

The discussion also previewed issues likely to carry into a broader public forum: multiple speakers referenced a presentation to Oceanport’s Mayor and Council scheduled for Thursday, March 12. The planning board later voted to send a letter summarizing its comments because its next regular meeting would be after that workshop.