Howell Planning Board unanimously approved site plan for affordable housing development.

The Howell Planning Board unanimously approved the preliminary site plan and subdivision of land for a controversial affordable housing development.

A Howell resident has also hired an attorney to fight the project if it goes forward.

The $22.5 million, 72-unit Howell Family Apartment complex is being proposed at the southeast corner of the intersection of Fort Plains and West Farms roads, just west of Route 9, by Walters Group, a Barnegat-based developer.


The group presented its plan to the Howell Planning Board on Wednesday seeking a subdivision of the land and preliminary approval for the project. The developer would need to come back to the Planning Board again for final approval.

The housing development would be on a 12.5-acre property, and the 15-acre parcel would potentially be developed for commercial use in the future.

The project has sparked outrage by the community, prompting more than 1,100 residents to sign and present a paper petition to the Township Council. A group of citizens that call themselves Howell Strong have raised $3,000 to hire an attorney to fight the project, according to a post on a Facebook group that’s been created as a forum to discuss the project.


John Bonevich, who lives near where the development would be, has hired attorney Ronald Gasiorowski of the Red Bank-based firm Gasiorowski & Holobinko. He couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

The group has also raised more than $1,300 through a Go Fund Me page set up Wednesday.

Some residents who spoke at the council meeting in mid-October said they were concerned about their taxes going up because the developer has an agreement with the town to pay a portion of rental income in lieu of property taxes. Concern was also voiced about the prospect of low-income housing, congestion the development could cause on Route 9 and the religious affiliation of the landowner, Rabbi Israel Meyer Hacohen, who on the property record is listed as associated with the Rabbinical Seminary of America.  more at APP