195-233 Elm Street

(Stop & Shop): 70 total units, 14 affordable 544-576 North Avenue East (formerly Stuart’s Audio): 54 total units, 11 affordable 221-341 South Avenue East (ShopRite Wines & Spirits): 96 total units, 20 affordable 530-600 South Avenue West (Wells Fargo Advisors): 78 total units, 16 affordable 412-436 South Avenue West

(BP gas station): 30 total units, 6 affordable WESTFIELD — When the Westfield Town Council announced late last year that it would need to build as many as 397 affordable-housing units in order to remain in compliance with state-level mandates, residents were quick to note that overdevelopment and overcrowding have already posed major challenges for the community at large.

“It’s a balancing act,” Mayor Shelley Brindle said, speaking with The Westfield Leader last week. “We know that there is a need, and we would want to do our part to address it even if we weren’t legally obligated to do so. But we need to do this strategically, and we need to take whatever steps we have to, to make sure that we are still the ones calling the shots.”

In January, the town, through its affordable-housing counsel, argued that its prospective need (a state-generated metric that attempts to anticipate future residential growth among low- and moderate-income households) should be dropped to a more manageable obligation of 364 units due to mitigating factors like the town’s lack of vacant property and usable open space. Ultimately, the courts split the difference and mandated that Westfield would need to add 380 units to its affordable-housing stock over the course of the next 10 years in order to satisfy its fourthround obligations.

However, under the state’s current affordable-housing laws, the town (and other built-out communities like it that lack sufficient developable space) will only need to address 25 percent of its prospective need (minus four Realistic Development Potential units that have already been built as part of previous construction projects) in order to remain compliant, bringing Westfield’s total obligation to 94 units.

That number will drop down even lower if the town continues to build along the NJ Transit train line due to a legislative provision that awards “bonus credits” to transit-oriented development projects. In addition, Westfield, unlike a number of neighboring municipalities including Cranford, Clark, Garwood and Scotch Plains, has already satisfied its prior round obligations and will not be expected to carry any additional units over from older mandates.

When all is said and done, Mayor Brindle said via social media, the town will only need to provide the “opportunity” to build 67 affordable units going forward.

“I don’t want people to see what happened during the third round [of obligations, which began in 2014] and think that that is going to happen again,” Mayor Brindle said, speaking with The Leader last week. “We had much, much higher numbers to deal with back then. These obligations kept getting pushed back by prior administrations, but eventually, we had to deal with them. Almost all of the development that you have seen going on was a result of those circumstances. We are in much better shape now, but that’s because we have worked hard to develop a good relationship with Fair Share by meeting our obligations honestly and honorably.”

As part of its new Housing Element and Fair Share Plan (HEFSP), the town’s Affordable Housing Committee (comprised of Planning Board Chairman Michael Ash and Vice Chairman Michael La Place and Council members Michal Domogala, Linda Habgood, James Hely and Todd Saunders), Town Planner Don Sammet and other, outside professionals identified five properties — including one that currently houses the Westfield Stop & Shop and another that supports ShopRite Wines & Spirits — that could feasibly support affordable housing in the future.

“We’re basically filling in the gaps between overlay zones that were already identified in previous rounds,” Mr. Sammet said, speaking during a meetingoftheWestfieldPlanningBoard earlier this month.

The HEFSP, Councilman Saunders said via social media, represents “months of work, analysis and resident input.”

“This was a full committee decision and we all played a part in coming up with the plan,” Mr. Saunders said. “I have disagreed with the mayor and council on many occasions in the past, but the committee was bipartisan and unanimous on this topic.”

After hearing testimony from Mr. Sammet and Topology Consultant Christopher Colley, the planning board agreed last week to adopt certain zoning changes (including one that would permit the construction of a four-story, mixed-use building on the Stop & Shop lot) that would allow each of the identified properties to be developed for residential purposes in the future should current operations cease.

Several residents, including the founders of an ad hoc citizens group that has levied multiple lawsuits against the town in response to recent development projects, raised objections to the changes and questioned the need to include an active supermarket in the town’s affordable-housing plans.

“I want to make it as clear as possible that these zoning changes do not mean that housing is going up in these areas right away — it might not ever even happen,” Mayor Brindle told The Leader, “but if we don’t do this, we run the risk of losing these properties to residential construction projects that would only add density to our town without helping us to meet our affordable- housing needs. We have worked hard to protect the town’s character throughout this process, and this plan will enable us to continue to do so.”

The affordable housing plan was approved by the Westfield Council Tuesday night.

“I commend the members of the [Affordable Housing Committee] for digging into this and trying to understand how we can protect the essential essence of the town, which is largely single-family zones,” Councilman Jim Hely said, “I was very glad to see the unanimous support.”