HOWELL — The Township Council has introduced an ordinance amending guidelines for the construction of affordable housing at a specific location in Howell.
The ordinance was introduced on June 15 and will have a public hearing and possible vote for adoption on July 20.
According to the ordinance, the intent of the Moderate and Low Income Zone District is to provide a suitable location for the construction of low- and moderate-income affordable housing.
Affordable housing is defined as housing that is sold or rented at below market rates to individuals and families whose income meets regional guidelines established by the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH).
The zone is on Yellowbrook Road near Route 524, according to municipal officials.
Single-family lots will have a minimum building envelope depth of 50 feet, according to the ordinance.
Multifamily affordable housing will have a minimum lot size increasing from 2 to 6.5 acres and a minimum lot frontage of 100 feet. The maximum gross density for multifamily affordable housing will be 12 dwelling units per acres. There will be a maximum of 78 units available on the site and a maximum of 25 units per building, according to the ordinance.
The maximum building height for multifamily housing will be two-and-a-half stories or 35 feet.
According to the ordinance, “the development of the property shall be amended to eliminate the commercial/retail space and decreasing the single-family market rate residential dwellings to 60 single-family detached units and providing 63 multifamily attached housing units. … The developer is increasing the number of affordable multifamily attached housing units from 10 to 15, resulting in a total of 78 multifamily attached housing units.”
In other business at the June 15 meeting, the council passed a resolution awarding a contract for professional engineering services for the Capital to Coast Trail.
According to the resolution, the contract has been awarded to T&M Associates, which is Howell’s consulting engineer, in an amount not to exceed $48,904.
The Capital to Coast Trail is a multi-use trail that begins in Trenton and travels to Manasquan, Mayor Bill Gotto said.
“We are requesting engineering services because the trail passes through and by several railroads and roads in the municipality,” he said.
— Taylor M. Lier