Township Committee — October 16, 2025

What happened

The meeting was called to order at 7:32 p.m. All five members were present; the minutes record that Mayor Singh arrived at 8:02 p.m. and the Deputy Mayor chaired until then. Most of the evening went to staff presentations (the township website, cybersecurity, farmland assessment, the third-quarter finance update) and to a long presentation on payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements for the Village Walk redevelopment. Two items matter to this site.

The affordable housing statement. At about 1:28:18 Mayor Singh read a statement on behalf of the Committee, which the posted minutes reproduce in full. It said the township’s goal had been to meet its state-mandated obligation “by extending affordability controls on existing units wherever possible,” and that “we have reached an agreement with the owner of Pike Run that enables us to do just that.” It went on: “As a result of this agreement, the Kenvue site will no longer be included in or required for the Township’s affordable housing plan.”

The statement said the change would go through the court mediation process and set out the milestones: by December 31, 2025, the court must approve or require changes to the plan, or it can revoke the township’s immunity from builder’s-remedy lawsuits; a public town hall would be held before the Planning Board’s hearing on the amendment; and by March 31, 2026 the Planning Board must approve the amended plan and the Committee must adopt any required ordinances. It said the state changed the rules for extending affordability controls in December 2024, which was offered as the reason no agreement was in place before the June 30, 2025 deadline.

The statement did not describe what the township gave in return. That came six months later: on April 30, 2026 the Committee authorized a memorandum of agreement under which the township supports up to 189 apartments and a park-and-ride on vacant land off Route 206 (now known as Belle Mead Station) in exchange for extending affordability controls on 96 Pike Run rentals.

Resolution #25-10-329. At about 2:17:18 the Committee adopted, 5-0 and without discussion, a resolution directing the Planning Board to conduct a preliminary investigation of 23 Orchard Road (Block 28001, Lot 5.02) to determine whether it meets the criteria for a non-condemnation redevelopment area. The resolution names the Board’s consultant, Clarke Caton Hintz, to prepare the study map and report, and requires a noticed public hearing before the Board makes a recommendation back to the Committee.

The minutes record no public comment at either public comment period. The meeting closed into executive session on, among other things, the affordable housing case (Docket No. SOM-L-153-25), and adjourned at 11:23 p.m.

Why it matters

This is the night the Kenvue site’s removal from the housing plan was first announced. The plan adopted in June 2025 had carried 417 units there. The amended plan that followed was adopted by the Planning Board in March 2026. The price of the Pike Run extensions, the Belle Mead Station apartments, was not part of this announcement. A 149-unit concept for the same land had been shown at an August 2025 town hall; the 189-unit agreement was authorized in April 2026.

The 23 Orchard Road referral used the same non-condemnation redevelopment process that the Committee later applied to the Kenvue site in September 2026. (Montgomery’s first such designation was the undeveloped portion of Block 4020, Lot 1, in June 2024.) 23 Orchard Road was designated on April 16, 2026.

Worth watching

• The affordable housing statement (1:28:18)
• The milestones ahead (1:30:02)
• Resolution #25-10-329 on 23 Orchard Road (2:17:18)

Sources

• The township’s archive: October 16, 2025 Township Committee meeting video and transcript. Quotations from the video come from uncorrected closed captions, and timestamps are approximate.
• Township Committee minutes, October 16, 2025, adopted November 13, 2025, which reproduce the statement and Resolution #25-10-329 in full.
• Township Committee agenda, October 16, 2025
• Township Committee special meeting minutes, April 30, 2026, Resolution #26-4-152 (the Pike Run and Belle Mead Station agreement).