Reporting

The Middletown Township Committee authorized an agreement to acquire and preserve approximately 83 acres and adopted new rules for special events on large farms on September 8, following public hearings that drew questions about displaced tenants, financing and which farms would qualify.

A broad array of speakers supported preserving the Chapel Hill property, but the hearing also included a tenant who said he had received 60 days to leave his home. Committee members said the transaction could not be treated as certain until there was a written agreement, while the property owner said she had tried to help him find another place.

The committee also heard concerns about the proposed redevelopment of the property commonly known as Circus Liquors and introduced a separate ordinance that would prohibit data centers throughout Middletown.

The Middletown Township Committee has introduced an ordinance that would prohibit data centers in every zoning district, with a public hearing and final vote scheduled for later this month. Middletown joins a growing list of New Jersey municipalities that have adopted or are considering restrictions on data centers.

Neighboring Holmdel recently adopted its own ordinance restricting data centers. Before the ordinance was adopted, the township received an application to construct a data center at Bell Works. That proposal, submitted under the previously allowed zoning uses, is now being considered by the township.

Ordinance 2026-3536 is not yet in effect. The committee is scheduled to consider final passage on September 21, 2026, following public comment on the proposed restriction.

Middletown Township has published the full settlement agreement and conceptual renderings showing what a proposed 450-home development at the former Circus Liquors property could look like.

The newly released plans show a mix of traditional townhomes, stacked townhomes and affordable flats, along with internal roads, parking, amenity areas and open space. The settlement between Middletown and AAMHMT Property LLC remains subject to court approval at an October 2 fairness hearing.

As Public Record NJ reported previously, the hearing is the latest development in a years-long builder's remedy dispute over the Route 35 property.

Middletown Township has reached a proposed settlement that would allow construction of up to 450 homes at the former Circus Liquors property on Route 35, potentially ending a years-long affordable housing dispute over the site.¹

Under the agreement, AAMHMT Property LLC, the contract purchaser of the property, would reserve 68 of the 450 homes for very-low, low- and moderate-income households. If fewer than 450 homes are ultimately built, at least 15% of the development would be designated as affordable housing.¹

A Superior Court judge will consider whether to approve the settlement at an October 2 fairness hearing. The agreement follows a lengthy legal fight over the property, including Middletown's unsuccessful effort to pursue condemnation of the site for commercial redevelopment.