As Maplewood seeks to finalize its Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan — agreeing to create 216 new affordable housing units by 2035 — the township has been scrambling to reach that number and answer litigation both from a developer and from the Fair Share Housing Center before a March 15 deadline.
Following a 7-1 vote the Maplewood Planning Board (Mayor Vic De Luca was the sole “yes” vote) on Feb. 10 against the addition of 11 Inwood Place to the Movie Theater Redevelopment Area in Maplewood Village, the Township of Maplewood’s Special Affordable Housing Counsel wrote a letter to a judge on Feb. 18 (see attached in full below) seeking an extension in litigation initiated by “161 Maplewood Investors, LLC”, which seeks to develop a 65-unit building with 13 affordable units on the Bank of America parking lot and 11 Inwood Place.
The Counsel wrote to Judge Aldo Russo that the Maplewood Planning Board vote “forced the township to put an amended Housing Element and Fair Share Plan on file on February 13, 2026 to meet the upcoming Fair Housing Act (FHA) March 15, 2026 deadline, which reduced the size of the developer’s project down to 50 units. In an attempt to avoid unnecessary litigation, Township representatives and representatives of the developer held a meeting in the township municipal building on February 17, 2026 to look for a way to resolve the current situation amicably.”
“The meeting was productive,” wrote the Counsel, “but the parties both agreed that the March 15, 2026 deadline that the township is currently under to file its amended housing element and fair share plan and implementing ordinances will not provide enough time for the parties to attempt and to negotiate a revised settlement.”
“Therefore, both the township and the developer ask that the court give the parties additional time to negotiate a revised settlement by granting a 90-day extension of the March 15, 2026 deadline for the township to file its plan and implementing ordinances, which is allowed for under the FHA if there is still an ongoing dispute between a challenger and a municipality.”
The letter from the Maplewood Special Affordable Housing Counsel concluded, “Without such an extension, the township will be forced to move forward with adopting and endorsing its current amended HEFSP, which will not contain a settlement between the parties and will most likely result in additional time consuming unnecessary litigation. In addition, fair Share Housing Center has been made aware of the situation and they do not object to this approach. FSHC requests that the court schedule a standing 30 day case management conference to discuss ongoing progress should the court grant the extension. Finally, if the court grants the extension, the township will adopt the FHA required binding resolution prior to March 15, 20 26, and will continue to move forward with the other components in its plan so the time is not wasted and affordable housing continues to be planned for and produced in the municipality.”
UPDATE: Village Green has reached out to 161 Maplewood Investors, LLC for comment. They responded on Feb. 24 with a statement and sent several legal documents. Read them here.
Maplewood elected leaders have voiced their commitment to not fight the number of units proscribed by the Fair Share Housing Center and to build more affordable units in town.
At the Feb. 10 Planning Board meeting, De Luca noted, “Unlike some towns, we have not shirked our responsibility in doing affordable housing, but every round you have to submit a new plan. And we did submit a new plan. And then in August of 2025, we received two challenges. One challenge was from Fair Share Housing, and one challenge was from 161 Maplewood Investors, the owners of the Bank of America building and the owners of lot 169 [11 Inwood Place].”
A rendering of a proposed 65-unit housing development on Inwood Place in Maplewood Village.
“This was a situation which the courts looked at this and said, ‘Well, you have the owners telling you that they’re willing to develop affordable housing on property they own. Why are you putting up zoning roadblocks?’ We would say, ‘Hey, it’s historic. It’s got to go for a design review. It’s got to go for a demolition review.’ We said, ‘It’s in R-1-7, not in the commercial [zone]. It’s a transitional use.’ We said all those things, a lot of the stuff we heard tonight. But I will again say that the rules have changed. The developers have a lot more power than they had before, and the judges are just looking to get these projects done. As a elected official here, I have to look at the big picture. I understand there’s a lot of people looking at this, but I have to look at the big picture for Maplewood. The agreement that we’ve been talking about with Fair Share Housing does not just deal with the site here. It deals with five units on Parker, one unit on Dunnell, about 10 units on Springfield Avenue. That’s all in that agreement. And if that unravels, [we are] losing immunity from developers.”
The Maplewood Planning Board will consider the amended Housing Element and Fair Share Plan at a February 26 Special Meeting. Read more here.
Related:
- Maplewood Planning Board Recommends Against Adding 11 Inwood Pl to Redevelopment Area
- Maplewood Working to Submit 4th Round Affordable Housing Plan by March 16 Deadline
- South Orange, Maplewood Face Affordable Housing Challenges with Commitment, Creativity
- Maplewood Agrees to Create 216 More Affordable Housing Units By 2035
- Maplewood & South Orange Taking First Steps to Adopt 2025-35 Affordable Housing Obligations
