BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer
HOWELL — The battle over the Fountains has resulted in a settlement agreement.
The Fountains started almost two years ago as a Planning Board application for a 348-unit rental complex that included a 20 percent affordable housing component.
The settlement is now in the "getting-all-the-signatures" stage, according to Township Manager Bruce Davis.
The agreement not only removes the affordable housing component from the Fountains, it whittles down the number of units to no more than 100 age-restricted units spread among four buildings to be built along Route 9, with 26 single-family homes to be built along the Maxim-Southard Road portion of the property.
The original Fountains plan called for 348 units in 29 buildings to be built on Maxim-Southard Road and Route 9.
A different compromise offer was put forth a few months ago that would have allowed for a total of 304 units to be divided between the two parcels on Maxim-Southard Road and Route 9.
The site had been certified for low- and moderate-income housing by the state Council On Affordable Housing (COAH) since 1989 when a Superior Court ruling led to a brokered approval for 408 units on 60 acres.
The final settlement calls for the developer, MGB Holdings of Westfield, certifying to COAH its agreement to see the Fountains tract removed from Howell’s COAH obligation, Davis said at the Sept. 15 Township Council meeting.
The township is doing its part by rezoning the property to Residential Age-Restricted in order to accommodate age-restricted housing. A public hearing and adoption of the ordinance to change the zone is scheduled for Oct. 20.
Meanwhile, the mayor and council adopted a resolution authorizing the mayor and township clerk to execute the settlement agreement. Under the terms of the settlement, about 25 percent of the parcel will remain as open space.
Sharon Carpenter-Migliaccio of Residents Against Irresponsible Develop-ment (RAID) — the neighborhood group whose intervention helped force the settlement — thanked the members of the governing body at the public meeting for their "diligent effort" in achieving the settlement.
Speaking to a reporter after the meeting about the settlement and its terms, Carpenter-Migliaccio said, "A lot of people worked very hard and it is something we can live with. I am really happy it will be over very soon. We’re well on our way. I hope everyone learned something from this. I know I did."
Davis said the applicant may start the process of seeking approval for the 100 age-restricted units and the 26 single-family homes by submitting a new application to the Planning Board, since there have been so many changes to the original Fountains application.