Millburn's Township Committee voted Wednesday, July 29, to approve a settlement that ends more than two years of litigation and moves a 93-unit mixed-income development to the heart of downtown, replacing a controversial plan to build affordable housing on a contaminated former coal yard.

The vote, taken at a special meeting at the Millburn Education Center, eliminates an estimated $11 million cost that would have fallen on taxpayers to relocate the Department of Public Works facility from 9 Main Street. It also ends pending lawsuits among the township, RPM Development Group, and the Fair Share Housing Center.

The new project will rise on municipally owned land at the intersection of Essex Street, Spring Street, and Millburn Avenue, adjacent to the Harth, an existing inclusionary development downtown. It includes 75 deed-restricted affordable rental units, 18 market-rate units, ground-floor retail space, and on-site parking with additional spaces across Essex Street. Some affordable units will be reserved for veterans and individuals with special needs.

The development will generate PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) revenue for the township from land that currently produces no tax income. The prior all-affordable proposal at the DPW site would not have generated comparable revenue, according to the township's announcement.

As we reported July 19, the settlement emerged after Mayor Frank Saccomandi and Committeeman Ben Stoller, along with township legal counsel, personally negotiated with RPM's principals over the past two years. The two were elected in 2023 on a platform of rejecting the original 2021 DPW-site agreement. In early 2024, the full committee voted unanimously to fight that deal.

"This settlement achieves what a lot of people said couldn't be done," Saccomandi said when the agreement was announced July 27. "It ends costly litigation. It protects taxpayers. It fulfills our affordable housing obligations. And it creates a mixed-income, mixed-use development that welcomes families into the heart of our downtown."

Not everyone is celebrating. Democratic Township Committee candidate Bill Brazell told the New Jersey Globe on July 29 that Saccomandi and Stoller gave away "valuable downtown real estate for a song" and added 18 units beyond the original mandate. Brazell estimated the legal fight cost the town roughly $1 million before arriving at a result he said a more collaborative approach might have reached sooner.

Brazell and running mate Beth Zall will face Saccomandi and Stoller in the November 2026 Township Committee election. A Democratic sweep would flip partisan control of the governing body to a 4-1 majority.

The settlement fulfills Millburn's constitutional affordable housing obligations under New Jersey's Mount Laurel doctrine. The overall development cost is expected to be comparable to the original 9 Main Street project, financed primarily through the township's Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which is funded by new development in town.

Court approval of the settlement and Planning Board review are still pending. No construction timeline has been announced.