New zoning ordinance for affordable housing in Westfield's Elm Street area.

PUBLIC NOTICETOWN OF WESTFIELD WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEYGENERAL ORDINANCE NO. 2026-07AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE LAND USE ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF WESTFIELD TO ADDRESS THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE FAIR HOUSING ACT REGARDING COMPLIANCE WITH THE TOWN'S AFFORDABLE HOUSING OBLIGATIONS BY ESTABLISHING AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING ZONE DISTRICT DESIGNATED AS THE ES-AH DISTRICT AND MODIFYING THE ZONING MAPWHEREAS, in accordance with the Fair Housing Act, N.J.S.A. 52:27D-301 et seq, and the Municipal Land Use Law, the Town of Westfield Planning Board has adopted a Housing Element and Fair Share Plan on May 5, 2025 to address the Town's Fourth Round constitutional obligation to provide a realistic opportunity for the development of housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income families and individuals; andWHEREAS, Page 31 of the Westfield Housing Element and Fair Share Plan identifies the Stop & Shop site located on Lots 4-7 in Block 2505 as available, suitable, developable and approvable for the development of affordable housing; andWHEREAS, Page 71 of the Unified Land Use and Circulation Plan highlights that the Elm Street area “acts as an extension of the core downtown... [and] has the potential for appropriate development”; and WHEREAS, in order to implement the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, the Code of the Town of Westfield must be amended to allow for zone districts to address the prospective need obligation in accordance with N.J.S.A. 52:27D-304.1.f.2.c;); andNOW, THEREFORE, BE IT THEREFORE ORDAINED by the Town Council of the Town of Westfield, in the County of Union and the State of New Jersey, as follows:SECTION I. Chapter LUL, Article 11, Subsection 11.01A shall add the designation “ES-AH Affordable Housing District” as a line in the table appearing after SA-AH.SECTION II. The Zoning Map shall be and is hereby amended and supplemented by the addition of the Elm Street Affordable Housing (ES-AH) District, incorporating the following properties as shown on the Official Tax Map of the Town of Westfield into said zone:Block			Lot		Address2505			4		233 ELM STREET2505			5		219 ELM STREET2505			6		203 ELM STREET2505			7		195 ELM STREETSECTION III. The Land Use Ordinance is hereby amended by adding a new Article 11.45, Elm Street Affordable Housing (ES-AH) District, to read in its entirety as follows:ARTICLE 11.45Elm Street Affordable Housing (ES-AH) DISTRICT§11.45 Elm Street Affordable Housing (ES-AH) District.A. Purpose and Intent. The purpose of this article is to supplement Article 11 of the Code of the Town of Westfield in such a manner as to provide for the realistic opportunity for the development of affordable housing for households of low and moderate income, as required by Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Township of Mount Laurel, 92 N.J. 158 (1983) (“Mount Laurel II”) and the Fair Housing Act, N.J.S.A. 52:27D-301 et seq. These regulations are intended to implement the Housing Element and Fair Share Plan. The ES-AH district is designed to enable property within the District to be developed with mixed-use commercial and multifamily residential development. Multi-family residences permitted in the ES-AH District shall include an affordable housing set-aside as provided for elsewhere in this section.B. Applicability. These regulations shall apply to the following properties as shown on the Official Tax Map of the Town of Westfield: Block			Lot		Address2505			4		233 ELM STREET2505			5		219 ELM STREET2505			6		203 ELM STREET2505			7		195 ELM STREETC. Principal uses and structures. The following principal uses and structures shall be permitted in the ES-AH District:1. Multifamily residences as defined in Article 2 except for within a basement or on the ground floor.2. Non-residential uses on the ground floor, as follows:a. Business establishments devoted primarily to the retail sales of goods and personal services on the premises, including restaurants and food establishments intended for food consumption on the premises or for take-out of food.b. Banks and other financial institutions engaged in the business of accepting deposits from the public and/or extending credit to the public in the form of loans. Such business must be conducted on the premises, and must be the principal activity of the use on the premises.c. Business, administrative and professional offices, or other business establishments providing the following services:i. Finance, insurance or real estate sales or services.ii. Business or professional services.iii. Health services.iv. Social services.v. Consulting services.vi. Educational services.d. Retail services.e. Child care centers.f. Museums, art galleries and indoor motion picture theaters, and theaters for conducting live entertainment or cultural performances.g. Establishments engaged in offering instruction in art, dance including dance studios, music, gymnastics, martial arts.h. Pet care facilities. i. Artisan manufacturing.j. The shared use of a single tenant space by multiple non-residential uses which are permitted principal uses as included in this section.D. Accessory uses and structures. The following accessory uses and structures shall be permitted in the ES-AH District:1. Parking and parking facilities as regulated herein.2. Signs as regulated in Article 16.3. Antennas, as regulated in §13.04.4. Sidewalk cafes as permitted and regulated by § 24-46 through § 24-57 of the Town Code.5. Accessory uses and structures customarily subordinate and incidental to permitted principal uses and shall include building lobbies, community rooms, residential roof decks, fitness rooms, laundries, pools, storage and stormwater management facilities.E. Prohibited uses and structures. Any uses or structures, other than those uses or structures permitted in subsection C through E above, are prohibited.F. Bulk and lot regulations. 1. Maximum density. There shall be a maximum density of twenty-five (25) dwelling units for each acre of lot or tract area.2. Minimum front yard. No front yard shall be required.3. Minimum side yard. All principal buildings may be constructed without side yards, except that when a side yard is provided, it shall not be less than 10 feet. Notwithstanding the above requirement, abuts a property in any residential zone, said side yard shall be not less than one foot for every two feet of height of the building located in the ES-AH zone district, but not less than 10 feet. Within this required side yard, there shall be a buffer at least 10 feet deep, within which plant material and/or a fence shall be installed, as required by the Planning Board, to adequately protect the abutting residentially zoned property.4. Minimum rear yard. Rear yard shall be not less than 35 feet. Within this required rear yard, there shall be a buffer at least 10 feet deep, within which plant material and/or a fence shall be installed, as required by the Planning Board, to adequately protect the abutting residential property.5. Maximum building height. No principal building shall exceed the maximum of four habitable floors, exclusive of basement, or 55 feet in height, whichever is less.6. Maximum number of buildings per lot. No more than 2 principal buildings shall be permitted per lot. 7. Maximum building width. No building shall exceed a width of 350 feet.8. Minimum distance between buildings. Twenty (20) feet. G. Design Standards. 1. The Design Standards set forth in §10.15 shall apply.2. Building materials, as follows:a. Prohibited materials. The use of vinyl siding as an exterior wall material is prohibited.3. Window area. Building facades which face the street shall contain a transparent window area on the ground floor which comprises not less than 40% of the area of the ground floor façade.4. Awnings. Awnings shall be permitted as regulated by the Town Code. Internally illuminated awnings are prohibited.5. Entrances. Each ground floor tenant shall provide at least one customer/client entrance on a street-facing facade. Service doors shall not be located along any street-facing facade.6. Existing window and door openings. Existing window and door openings on a facade may not be filled in unless the finished materials and color match those of immediately adjacent finishes on the building.7. Ground floor street-facing facades shall be occupied by a liner of habitable space including but not limited to common areas and facilities for the residents of the building. Parking shall not be considered habitable space. However, vehicular access to parking areas, limited to 15 feet in width for a one-way driveway and 25 feet in width for a two-way driveway, are permitted along a ground floor street-facing façade. H. Parking. a. All parking and driveway improvements shall comply with the provisions contained within the Residential Site Improvement Standards (RSIS), except that the minimum number of residential parking spaces shall be the RSIS standards for high-rise dwellings. Non-residential use parking requirements shall be in accordance with §17.02C of Article 17 of the Town of Westfield Land Use Ordinance. In addition, development of all property within this zone shall be in compliance with the following provisions of Article 17 of the Town of Westfield Land Use Ordinance §17.05, 17.06, 17.07, 17.08, 17.09, 17.10, 17.11, 17.12, 17.13, and the bicycle parking requirements of §17.02H. The parking space depth requirement in §17.04A for spaces with no curb overhang shall not apply to the ES-AH zone district. b. Required parking shall be furnished on the same lot as the principal building, structure or use; provided, however, that the required number of parking spaces may be located on other property owned by the applicant, or under a joint parking program agreement, in the ES-AH, GB-1 or CBD zone districts, so long as such parking spaces are located within five hundred (500) feet of any entrance way to the principal building, structure or use as measured along the normal pedestrian route between the parking and the entranceway to the principal building, structure or use. Plans for such a joint parking program shall be approved by the Planning Board, and provided further that the amount of parking spaces shall equal the collective parking requirements of the participating properties to be serviced, unless the applicant demonstrates, and the Board agrees, that the times of peak parking demand for the various uses are and will remain sufficiently different so as to warrant a lesser number of parking spaces.  c. Yard location and minimum setbacks for parking areas. Off-street parking areas are prohibited in front, side, and street side yards. Parking areas shall be set back at least 2 feet from rear property lines, however, joint parking areas shall be exempt from the forgoing 2 foot set back requirement only to the extent such exemption is necessary to connect said parking and to provide common access. d. The temporary use of existing floor area by a permitted principal use or uses as listed in this section, for a period of not more than 60 days tolled continuously from the first date of operation, shall not be subject to parking requirements for the duration of the use. Such temporary use shall be allowed once per calendar year for each tenant space. Temporary uses must comply with all sign provisions of Article 16. I. Affordable Housing Set Aside. At least twenty percent (20%) of the units constructed shall be rented or sold at rates affordable to low, very low and moderate income households in accordance with all applicable regulations of the affordable housing regulations of Article 23, with the state's Uniform Housing Affordability Controls (N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.1 et seq.), and Council on Affordable Housing regulations (N.J.A.C. 5:97-1.1 et seq.), with any fractional unit to be rounded upward. All affordable units shall be constructed on site.J. Other regulations. In addition to the above requirements, any development in the ES-AH district must comply with all applicable regulations of this ordinance, including but not limited to the following:1. The general provisions of Article 12.2. The regulations affecting accessory buildings, structures and uses in Article 13.3. The sign provisions of Article 16.4. In the event of a conflict between the terms of the within ordinance and any other Town ordinance, the terms of the within ordinance shall prevail. SECTION IV. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict or inconsistent with any part of this Ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent that they are in such conflict or inconsistent.SECTION V. In the event that any section, provision or part of provision of this Ordinance shall be held to be unenforceable or invalid by any court, such holding shall not affect the validity of this Ordinance as a whole, or any part thereof, other than the part so held unenforceable or invalid.SECTION VI. This ordinance shall take effect after final passage and publication in the manner provided by law.NOTICENotice is hereby given that the foregoing ordinance was approved for final adoption by the Town Council of the Town of Westfield at a Regular Meeting held on March 10, 2026.Maureen Lawshe, RMC Town Clerk1 T - 03/12/26, The Leader        				  Fee: $323.34