Middletown Township Committee to Introduce Circus Liquors Redevelopment Plan Ordinance
The ordinance would implement a court-approved affordable housing settlement; introduction is scheduled for October 19, with final action pending.
The Middletown Township Committee is scheduled to introduce an ordinance Monday that would adopt a redevelopment plan for the Circus Liquors property on Route 35, beginning the municipal approval process required by a court-approved affordable housing settlement.
Ordinance 2026-3544 is the first local legislative step toward allowing as many as 450 homes on the property, including 68 affordable units if the full project is built. Introduction would not amount to final adoption or development approval.
The action matters because the New Jersey Superior Court has set a November 10 deadline for Middletown to adopt the plan and take other steps needed to implement the settlement of a builder’s remedy lawsuit filed more than three years ago by AAMHMT Property LLC.
What the Township Committee will consider
The October 19 agenda lists Ordinance 2026-3544 for introduction. Its title says it would adopt a redevelopment plan for Block 825, Lot 55.01, the 51.5-acre property within the Circus Liquors Redevelopment Plan area.1
The court-approved settlement requires Middletown to amend its redevelopment plan and Housing Element and Fair Share Plan to permit up to 450 homes. Fifteen percent of the total, 68 units if all 450 are built, would be reserved for income-qualified households.
The Housing Element is the part of the township’s master plan that addresses its housing needs and affordable-housing obligation. The Fair Share Plan identifies the zoning, development sites and other measures the township will use to meet that obligation.
Those 68 units would include nine very-low-income units, 25 low-income units and 34 moderate-income units. Affordable rentals would remain deed-restricted for at least 40 years, while for-sale units would remain restricted for at least 30 years.2
How the lawsuit reached this point
AAMHMT filed its builder’s remedy action on August 17, 2023, alleging that Middletown had not met its Third Round affordable housing obligation and seeking zoning relief for an inclusionary development.
The Third Round was the prior state affordable-housing compliance period, during which municipalities were required to plan for their fair share of the regional need for low- and moderate-income housing. An inclusionary development is a mixed-income project that combines affordable homes with market-rate housing, often using zoning that permits greater density so the affordable units can be built as part of the larger development.3
A builder’s remedy case can permit a housing proposal that includes affordable units when a municipality has not fulfilled its constitutional housing obligation.
On May 17, 2024, the trial court found Middletown out of compliance by at least 600 units. A township filing described the deficiency as at least 602 units. Before the settlement, AAMHMT proposed 650 homes and later advanced a 520-unit concept; Middletown proposed 360. The parties ultimately agreed on 450 homes, including 68 affordable units.
As Public Record NJ previously reported on the Circus Liquors settlement, the agreement followed years of litigation over the site and Middletown’s affordable housing obligations.
Middletown, AAMHMT, the Fair Share Housing Center, and over 25 local residents submitted responses to public objections before the October 2 fairness hearing. The court considered those objections, the parties’ submissions and the court-appointed special adjudicator’s recommendation before entering a judgment approving the settlement as fair and reasonable to low- and moderate-income households.4
That judgment approved the settlement, not a final site plan or every planning, traffic, engineering or environmental issue. A fairness hearing asks whether a Mount Laurel settlement adequately protects the households for whom the affordable units would be built; it is not a full trial on the merits.
The judgment is final as to AAMHMT’s claims, but crossclaims filed by Fair Share Housing Center remain pending. The court also retained jurisdiction to oversee implementation and resolve settlement disputes.
What the parties told the court
In their pre-hearing responses, Middletown, AAMHMT and Fair Share Housing Center supported the settlement while addressing public objections.
Middletown told the court that it had opposed AAMHMT’s original proposed development because of density, environmental, traffic and other land-use concerns. The township said negotiations produced a lower-density agreement with setbacks, landscaping, conservation provisions and requirements making the developer responsible for stormwater infrastructure.
AAMHMT submitted planning and engineering reports asserting that the property could accommodate the settlement plan and that later design would comply with state stormwater, wetlands and residential site-improvement rules. Its engineer said final parking, stormwater and soil-testing details would be addressed during design and Planning Board review.
Fair Share Housing Center supported the agreement and argued that traffic, stormwater and similar design questions belonged in subsequent site-plan and agency reviews. The organization emphasized that the settlement creates an opportunity for 68 affordable homes.5
The Middletown Township Historical Society, one of the interested parties that wrote to the court, focused on the future of Calico, the large clown sign that has stood near Route 35 since 1956. The society said the State Historic Preservation Office found the sign eligible for the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 2015, describing it as a rare surviving example of freestanding mid-century roadside signage.
The Historical Society noted that the settlement addresses preservation of two trees on the property but does not address Calico. It asked that the sign remain in place if possible, either incorporated into the development or with the project designed around it. If preservation on the site is not feasible, the society proposed relocating Calico to another publicly visible location in Middletown, preferably along the same highway.6
Deadlines and approvals still ahead
The judgment directs Middletown to introduce the redevelopment plan by October 19. The Planning Board must consider the plan for referral and a recommendation by November 4, and the Township Committee must adopt it and complete other required implementing actions by November 10.
Even if the ordinance is adopted, AAMHMT must submit a development application generally consistent with the settlement. That application would be subject to Planning Board proceedings with public participation under the Municipal Land Use Law.
The settlement also anticipates review by the Middletown Township Sewerage Authority, Freehold Soil Conservation District, Monmouth County, New Jersey American Water, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Department of Transportation. The Planning Board is not obligated to grant relief from the agreement’s use, height or tract-boundary setback standards.
Other agenda items
The committee is also scheduled to consider several resolutions:
- Resolution 26-270, a one-year extension of the township’s solid-waste and recycling collection contract with Interstate Waste Services of New Jersey, Inc., covering 2027 for up to $8,376,898.36.
- Ratification of a $15,000 emergency contract with Fiore Paving Company Inc. for a collapsed drainage pipe and catch basin in the Mater Dei parking lot.
- An amendment to the redevelopment agreement with Port Monmouth Residential Developer, LLC, addressing approval and construction schedules, lot designations, conveyances and subdivision documents.7
When and how to attend
The Township Committee’s regular meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, October 19, at One Kings Highway in Middletown. Online attendance instructions are available through the township’s CivicClerk portal.
Ordinance 2026-3544 is scheduled only for introduction at this meeting. The agenda includes a general public-comment period, but the ordinance-specific public hearing and final vote would occur at a later meeting if the measure advances.
Notes
- Middletown Township Committee, Agenda for Regular Meeting, October 19, 2026, 1–3.
- Superior Court of New Jersey, Monmouth County, Order and Final Judgment Approving Settlement of Mount Laurel Builder’s Remedy Action, AAMHMT Property LLC v. Township of Middletown, Docket No. MON-L-2588-23, 9–10.
- New Jersey Fair Housing Act, N.J.S.A. 52:27D-304, 311; New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, “COAH Unveils Revised Third Round Affordable Housing Rules,” December 17, 2007.
- Superior Court of New Jersey, Order and Final Judgment, 2–4, 11.
- Township of Middletown, Reply to Objections Raised in Connection with October 2, 2026 Fairness Hearing, September 22, 2026, 3–5; AAMHMT Property LLC, planning and engineering responses, September 18–22, 2026; Fair Share Housing Center, Response to Objections, September 22, 2026, 6–10.
- Middletown Township Historical Society, letter to Hon. Gregory L. Acquaviva regarding the October 2 fairness hearing, September 9, 2026, filed September 14, 2026, Docket No. MON-L-2588-23; New Jersey Historic Preservation Office, Certification of Eligibility: Calico the Food Circus Clown, July 17, 2015.
- Middletown Township Committee, Agenda for Regular Meeting, October 19, 2026, 10–15, 20–22.