Westfield adopts Fourth Round Housing Element and zoning ordinances
Planning Board · Meeting of March 2, 2026
NJ WESTFIELD — The Planning Board unanimously approved Westfield's Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, addressing a 94-unit affordable housing obligation through mid-2035 and settling three prior legal challenges. The board voted unanimously to adopt six implementing ordinances amending affordable housing regulations and creating four new zoning districts (ES-AH, FR-AHO, SA-AH, and SAW-AHO) for inclusionary housing at 25 units per acre. The plan uses existing sites to satisfy obligations without new rezoning, and raises the subsidy for nonprofit developers from approximately 48,000 dollars per unit to 100,000 dollars per unit through the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
The board also unanimously designated 625 Westfield Avenue as a historic landmark for its architectural significance and its first owner, a Japanese-American pottery importer, and approved an amendment to the Prospect and Ferris Redevelopment Plan allowing temporary use of 118 Ferris Place for construction staging of the Mills-Ferris-Pearsall Home, all to meet a March 15 deadline for preserving immunity from builder's remedy lawsuits.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 304 words
Source: the Planning Board meeting of March 2, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
Keep reading with a 14-day free trial
Subscribe to The Westfield NJ Post to keep reading this post and get 14 days of free access to the full post archives.
A subscription gets you:
- Subscriber-only posts and full archive
- Post comments and join the community
- 24x7 access to local news