> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://blog.johnmangini.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Warren signed a mediation agreement locking in 262 units, six sites and a March 2026 deadline - URL: https://blog.johnmangini.com/fshc-mediation-agreement/ - Published: 2025-12-22T13:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-20T17:52:48.000Z - Description: The Mediation Agreement with Fair Share Housing Center was filed in SOM-L-180-25 on December 21, 2025. It meets a 262 unit Fourth Round obligation with 197 units and 65 bonus credits across six components, and sets a March 15, 2026 ordinance deadline. - Author: John Mangini - Tags: Warren 07059, Township, affordable housing, fair share housing center, litigation, township committee The short answer Attorney William Willard signed a Mediation Agreement for Warren Township on December 16, 2025, and it was filed in Docket SOM-L-180-25 on December 21, 2025 at 7:32 a.m. for Josh Bauers of Fair Share Housing Center. The agreement sets Warren's Fourth Round Prospective Need at 262 units, still under appeal, and satisfies it with 197 units plus 65 bonus credits across six components. The operative deadlines are a developer agreement capable of securing 9 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits by March 15, 2026, all implementing ordinances and resolutions adopted no later than March 15, 2026, site control by June 30, 2026, and financing by March 15, 2027. Warren spent 2025 arguing about a number. This document is where the argument stops being about the number and becomes about dates. ## How it got here Warren filed its Housing Element and Fair Share Plan with the court on June 27, 2025. On August 31, 2025, Fair Share Housing Center filed a challenge under N.J.S.A. 52:27D-304.1(f)(2)(b). AvalonBay Communities filed a separate challenge the same day. Both challenges attacked the same two things. First, that the proposed 60 unit 100 percent affordable Sempre and Caruso project at 67A and 67B Mountain Boulevard, Block 74 Lots 2.01 and 3.01, lacked the four mandatory elements of N.J.A.C. 5:93-5.5(a). Those four are municipal site control, a defined administrative agent, a pro forma with stable funding, and a construction timetable beginning within two years. Second, that Warren's proposed extensions of expiring affordability controls lacked required documentation. Neither challenge was premised on the existence of alternative or better sites. The 2024 amendments to the Fair Housing Act forbid that ground. A date discrepancy in the record Warren's own Resolution 2025-308 recites both challenges as filed September 2, 2025\. The court filings and the mediation agreement give August 31, 2025\. I am treating the court date as authoritative and reporting the township's date here so you can see both. If you are citing this to anyone who cares, cite the filing. ## Adoption on December 11 At the December 11, 2025 Township Committee meeting, under privilege of the floor, Willard asked the Committee to take up Resolution 2025-308 authorizing execution of the agreement, noting that a program hearing was set for the next day, December 12. Planner Katherine Sarmad told the Committee that the urgency came from the program's timeline rather than from township inaction, and that the draft largely tracks Warren's existing compliance plan. The motion came from Fine, seconded by Kian. Adopted 4-0, with Blick absent. ## The obligation, all four rounds | Component | Units | | ----------------------------- | ----- | | Present Need, rehabilitation | 10 | | Prior Round | 543 | | Third Round | 890 | | Fourth Round Prospective Need | 262 | The 262 remains under appeal. ## The six components of the Fourth Round plan The Fourth Round is met with 197 units plus 65 bonus credits. | Component | Location | Units | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | | Supportive needs units | Stirling Road property, Block 114 Lots 28 and 29 | 22 | | Family for sale, 30 percent set aside | Toll Brothers site, Block 82 Lot 12.02 | 55 | | 100 percent affordable rentals, Sempre and Caruso, with 30 bonuses | 67A and 67B Mountain Boulevard, Block 74 Lots 2.01 and 3.01 | 60 | | Age restricted rentals | Chase former hotel site, Block 85.01 Lot 2 | 35 | | Assisted living beds | Mira Vie, Block 82 Lot 8.01 | 9 | | Extended affordability controls | Cooperative Housing at Block 114.01 Lots 22.01 and 73, Vincendese at Block 74 Lots 6.50 to 6.52, Ferruggia at Block 74 Lots 5.22 to 5.24 | 16 | The last line is not construction. It is keeping existing affordable units affordable by extending controls that were going to expire, at two Cooperative Housing properties and two Town Center properties. ## The deadlines, which are the part that matters Mar 15, 2026 ordinances adopted and LIHTC developer agreement Jun 30, 2026 site control Mar 15, 2027 financing Drafts of the implementing documents were due to Fair Share Housing Center by February 15, 2026\. The implementing package includes an updated affordable housing ordinance, a development fee ordinance, a spending plan and an affirmative marketing plan, all adopted no later than March 15, 2026. The March 15, 2026 developer agreement has to be capable of securing 9 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits. That is the competitive federal credit that finances 100 percent affordable rental construction, and it is why the Mountain Boulevard project drives the schedule. ## If the deadlines slip The agreement names three replacement sites Warren must implement if it misses. | Replacement site | Block and lot | Total units | Affordable | | ---------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | | 155 Washington Valley, Firewood or Silbert property | Block 75 Lot 1 | about 60 | 15 | | 149 Washington Valley and 11 North Road, Bardy Farms | Block 70.03 Lots 24 and 25.01 | 100 | 26 | | Chua Property | Block 88.08 Lot 4 | 60 | 19 | If the deadlines slip, those three replacement sites are where the plan goes next. ## The appeal is still live Paragraph 16 preserves Warren's right to reduce its plan if the Appellate Division cuts the 262 number. Warren's appeal was pending under Appellate Division Docket A-003131-24, arguing that its Prospective Need is 181 units rather than 262. The agreement also contains a contingency tied to sewer. If Wagner Farm's sewer costs prove prohibitive, the supportive needs beds shift to the Stirling Road property. Note that the Stirling Road property is also where the agreement locates those 22 supportive needs units in the first place. I am reporting both statements as the record carries them rather than reconciling them. What I could not verify The Fair Share Housing Center signature line carries no date on the filed copy I worked from. I could not verify whether AvalonBay Communities ever signed the agreement, or the disposition of the AvalonBay challenge, including a later court order. ## The rest of the December 11 meeting Ordinance 25-20, prohibiting signs on public property, was adopted 4-0. Resolution 2025-287 provided $90,000 of opioid settlement funds to the Warren Township School District for a grades 6 to 8 mentoring program. Fine, Kian and Croson voted yes. Lontai abstained. Three contract awards came through on consent. | Project | Contractor | Amount | Bids | | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ----------- | --------------------------- | | Stiles Road Pump Station upgrade | Rapid Pump and Meter Service, Paterson | $566,735.00 | low of seven, high $784,200 | | King George Road Phase II | Stilo, South Plainfield | $221,889.98 | low of nine | | Mountainview Road Phase I | Stilo, South Plainfield | $357,660.05 | low of ten | Engineer Kastrud reported a $252,952.00 NJDOT grant for milling, overlay and drainage on Valley View Road. The Department of Public Works reported 12 salt routes using about 300 tons of salt per snowfall. Sources 1. Township of Warren and Fair Share Housing Center, Mediation Agreement, SOM-L-180-25, filed December 21, 2025\. [https://www.warrennj.org/DocumentCenter/View/11164](https://www.warrennj.org/DocumentCenter/View/11164?ref=blog.johnmangini.com) 2. Township of Warren, Township Committee Minutes and Resolution 2025-308, December 11, 2025\. [https://www.warrennj.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/\_12112025-934](https://www.warrennj.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/%5F12112025-934?ref=blog.johnmangini.com) 3. Township of Warren, Round 4 Affordable Housing Information. [https://www.warrennj.org/631/Round-4-Affordable-Housing-Information](https://www.warrennj.org/631/Round-4-Affordable-Housing-Information?ref=blog.johnmangini.com) ![John Mangini](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/d2/f9d2e72e-65c9-4e98-ba1e-1a7bc528bfaa/content/images/2026/08/john-headshot.jpg) John Mangini Broker / Owner, NextHome Premier Warren Township resident and full time broker, serving clients since 1999\. Warren 07059 is written from live Garden State MLS data, township records and primary sources. Every figure is traceable to a source listed above. [732.236.1087](tel:+17322361087) [john@nexthomepremier.com](mailto:john@nexthomepremier.com) 102 Town Center Drive, Warren [JohnMangini.com](https://www.johnmangini.com/?ref=blog.johnmangini.com) [Reviews on Zillow](https://www.zillow.com/profile/John%20Mangini?ref=blog.johnmangini.com) [About this site](https://blog.johnmangini.com/about/)