Millburn settles to move affordable-housing project off its contaminated DPW yard
After a multi-year, resident-driven fight, the committee will relocate a court-mandated 75-family, 100% affordable project from the town's contaminated, flood-prone DPW/recycling yard to the Essex Street area. A PILOT and a $22.4M bond pay for the move.
Two hosts walk through the week’s edition in conversation — grant tax exemption and authorize execution, first reading, and what’s coming next. Generated by Aware, from this week’s verified summaries.
Residents said they were not opposed to affordable housing, but opposed placing 100% affordable housing on a contaminated municipal yard.
After years of resident opposition, the Township Committee approved a global settlement to move a court-mandated 100% affordable housing project off the town's DPW yard and build it instead at an alternate site near Essex Street, Spring Street, and Millburn Avenue — the area counsel called the “Rimback” site.
Residents had objected since a 2021 agreement to place 75 families on the DPW yard, which special counsel described as contaminated and flood-prone while still holding active town operations — a salt dome, fueling stations, a snowplow fleet, and bulk waste and recycling drop-off — next to the middle school, a rail line, and a utility substation. Speakers said they were not opposed to affordable housing but opposed placing 100% affordable housing on a contaminated municipal yard they called unsafe and undignified for families.
Special counsel cited environmental remediation estimates of at least $6 million and said the old DPW-site approach would have cost about $34.78 million, versus roughly $25.875 million for the alternative project. The Mayor described the settlement as the culmination of a multi-year effort that began with those 2021 objections.
The financing follows in two separate actions the same night: a PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) agreement with developer RPM Development LLC that sets the project's tax terms, and Ordinance 2764-26, a $22.375 million bond introduced on first reading to fund the Township's contribution to the new site.
Grant tax exemption and authorize execution of financial agreement (PILOT) with RPM Development LLC
One vote set the tax terms for a larger housing deal. The Township Committee approved Resolution 26-184, authorizing a tax exemption and a financial agreement for payments in lieu of taxes with RPM Development LLC. The resolution passed on a unanimous roll call vote. The action puts in place a PILOT agreement under NJSA 55:14K-1 et seq., a state law used for certain housing-related financial arrangements.
The agreement was described as part of the broader settlement framework already under discussion in Millburn. Earlier descriptions of that framework said it included a 6.28% PILOT for the affordable component, along with a larger PILOT for commercial and market-rate portions of the project. No additional Township Committee comments were recorded immediately before the vote, so the meeting turned on the resolution itself and the committee’s decision to adopt it.
What happens next depends on the rest of the redevelopment and settlement steps already moving through town review. This vote does not stand alone; it gives one of the financial pieces a formal approval. With Resolution 26-184 adopted, Millburn now has an executed path for the tax-exemption agreement with RPM Development LLC as the affordable housing settlement continues to move through public hearings, planning review, and related ordinances.
First reading: Bond ordinance for alternate site redevelopment project contribution
Millburn put a major borrowing plan on the table. The Township Committee introduced Ordinance 2764-26 on first reading, appropriating $22,375,000 and authorizing $21,850,000 in bonds or notes for part of the Township’s contribution to the alternate site redevelopment project. The ordinance passed unanimously on first reading after a motion, second, and roll call vote. The Township Clerk was directed to post the ordinance on the Millburn Township public notices page, which starts the formal public process before final adoption. The next key date is Tuesday, August 11, 2026. That is when the public hearing for final passage is scheduled at the Millburn Education Center, 434 Millburn Avenue. Between now and then, residents will have a chance to review the borrowing plan and weigh in before the Township Committee decides whether to adopt it on final reading.
large dollar figure ($22,375,000)
Committee advances Essex-Spring redevelopment plan
The Township Committee made a need determination for the proposed affordable housing project near Essex Street, Spring Street, and Millburn Avenue, then introduced the redevelopment plan on first reading. The plan now goes to the Planning Board, and a public hearing is set for September 1, 2026.
These actions move the project toward formal review and determine what can be built near a key downtown intersection.
- Millburn Township Committee. In the second public comment period (one-minute limit), speakers largely praised the Township’s work but also warned about expedited redevelopment processes, planning board risks, parking/design concerns, and the need to monitor financing, NJHMFA applications, and the legality/impacts of the tax exemption and profit limits.
- Millburn Township Committee. Some speakers criticized political messaging around the settlement, including claims about overdevelopment and transparency, while others argued the prior 2021 agreement and subsequent litigation were mischaracterized and that the earlier DPW-site plan was less costly than described.
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