Hanover Township Adopts Ordinances, Races March 15 Affordable-Housing Deadline

Other Committee · Meeting of February 12, 2026

Hanover Township, N.J. introduces a dozen ordinances in a single night to meet a March 15 state affordable-housing deadline. The Township Committee voted 4-0 Thursday to introduce Ordinances 5 through 16 of 2026, most of them tied to New Jersey's fourth-round Fair Share Housing obligations under Bill A40 and S50, signed into law in March 2024. The township's attorney, identified only as Jeff, warned that missing the March 15 deadline would cost Hanover its immunity status — "which means that we lose what we all cherish, which is home rule" — even as the township pursues a parallel challenge now before the U.S.

Supreme Court. The committee also approved a $150,000 design contract for the Greenway Trail in Cedar Knolls, funded by a $120,000 Morris County Park Commission grant and a $30,000 township match, over public objections that the trail is "completely discretionary." The committee authorized payment of $9,380,762.42 in bills and accepted the retirement of Hanover Police Department officer John Schauder, effective April 1, 2026.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of February 12, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.