Pursuant to a settlement between Holmdel and the Fair Housing Center regarding affordable housing, a four-story apartment building is proposed for a 6.73-acre site on Palmer Avenue across from Target. The first story of this building is for parking with three floors above, consisting of one and two-bedroom rental apartments. This development, known as Barclay Square, will contain 60 units, including 12 affordable housing and 48 fair-market rental apartments.

Despite the developer’s improvements to the plan, including stormwater basin and sloping upgrades, the addition of rain gardens, and a new conservation easement, this proposal is very similar to a 2016 affordable housing application which was denied by the Holmdel Zoning Board.

The lots under consideration are largely wetlands surrounded by both the Waackaack Creek and the Mahoras Brook and were shown in a 2019 Rutgers Preliminary Hydrology Report to have much flooding. Residents of Palmer Square, just north (and downstream of the proposed development), have complained for decades of flooding in their basements and on the roadway after heavy rains. The county’s recent construction on Palmer Avenue has eased the street flooding but did not improve this condition in the nearby homes. Putting a large apartment building on this flood-prone site has the potential of exacerbating the problem.

On June 15, 2021, the Holmdel Planning Board approved the Barclay Square Development. Presently, Barclay Square is in the process of meeting the conditions of their approving resolution including the continuous de-snagging of the Mahoras Brook and revisions to the lighting, fencing, fire and stormwater management plans. Holmdel will also receive an access and maintenance easement that gives the Township the right to maintain drainage facilities with the provision that any costs incurred will be the responsibility of Barclay Square. The Rutgers study is ongoing.

CILU recognizes the need for affordable housing in Holmdel. Development densities, however, should be consistent with adjacent areas of town and with the carrying capacity of the land, especially regarding drainage issues.  CILU opposes this plan, as it did for the similar application in 2016, because its density is higher than anywhere else in Holmdel. More importantly, long-standing drainage issues, which can possibly worsen with this new development, have not been adequately addressed by either the developer, the township, or the county. 

By: The Board of Citizens for Informed Land Use (CILU), Jenn Ashkar.