Politicians who don't live here demanded 555 more income-restricted units in Millburn. Frank Saccomandi and Ben Stoller cut it down by more than 76%. See how they did it, and why the fight isn't over.
Trenton politicians passed a new housing law entirely along party lines. Under it, Millburn was told to plan for 555 income-restricted apartments by 2035.
At the standard 20% set-aside, every income-restricted apartment comes with four more at full market price.
The market-rate luxury apartments are how developers profit.
555 income-restricted units would have meant roughly 2,775 total new apartments in Millburn.
The state's number would have grown the town's housing stock by almost 40%.
A town without an approved plan can be sued by a developer. Then a judge, not the Planning Board, decides what gets built.
Creates a standing citizen committee to advise the Township Committee on Millburn's housing plan.
Within five months, they made good on their pledge.
After multiple public hearings, residents’ desires were clear: keep the housing away from single-family neighborhoods, and keep the total unit count down.
Frank and Ben studied the law until they knew it better than the people enforcing it. Then they worked with the Citizen Advisory Committee on Affordable Housing to craft Millburn's Fourth Round plan.
It zones for 132 income-restricted units, a reduction of more than 76%, with the large developments kept away from single-family neighborhoods.
No developer challenged it. The plan protects Millburn from builder's-remedy lawsuits through 2035.
To protect the schools, Frank and Ben insisted on Millburn's first 100% senior-only housing development. Full property taxes to the Board of Education, and not one additional student.
Senior homes also count as 1.5 units toward the state's number.
Approved for 149 units and 324 parking spaces by Beth Zall when she was Chair of the Planning Board. It sits directly across from the single-family homes of South Mountain.
It is the densest housing project in Millburn. Beth called the density “appropriate.”
Even though the Fourth Round (2025–2035) plan is set, every site still needs Planning Board approval. That’s where a traffic study gets challenged, or rubber-stamped.
Beth Zall wants your vote in November. She’s running on traffic studies. But her record shows otherwise.
Her promises don’t live up to her record. Do we really trust that she’ll put residents before developers?
What gets built over the next nine years depends on who is elected. And who gets elected decides who sits on the Planning Board.
Frank and Ben have proven they will fight overdevelopment. Their opponents won't even acknowledge the overdevelopment Trenton is forcing on Millburn.
