Daggers, Zoning, and Zombie Homes: Summit’s High-Stakes Sequel

John’s Notes on the 02/17/2026 Summit Town Council Meeting

Notes on the 02/03 Meeting

The main focus was Summit’s Round four affordable housing plan and what the City says it needs to do to stay on top of zoning while meeting state driven deadlines. The presentation put forward a plan to satisfy this obligation, including the River Road sites (tied to the Russo settlement), other redevelopment/conversion concepts and a Bristol Myers Squibb component that the City says is tied up by environmental deed restrictions.

The clearest information was connected to Russo which included:

-198 total units with 30 affordable on site
-A shuttle
-25 parking spaces for City use
-$1 million contribution to the affordable housing trust fund
-$100,000 in golf course landscaping improvements
-1.88-acre Shunpike Road donation intended for supportive housing (described as producing bonus credit)
Residents were clearly angry over process and transparency, with residents saying they learned details through court filings rather than community notice – others defended confidentiality as part of mediation.

The meeting ended with sparks, as one representative accused others of preaching bipartisanship while “throwing daggers” and blaming the other side for past mistakes.

02/17 is set up to be a sequel as Affordable Housing again features prominently on the agenda.

Questions Residents Can Ask About the Prior Meeting:

Russo Settlement:

Is the shuttle guaranteed forever or does it expire? Who’s responsible financially for the shuttle – is it the developer or Summit? How will the quality of the service be held accountable?

Will the 25 parking spots be deeded to the city or what legal instrument governs them? How will they be designated (permit, employee, general public etc)?

Bristol

Can the Council point to the specific language in the Deed or Environmental reports that stops the site from being used for housing?

02/17/2026 Meeting Agenda

The meeting will start off with a closed session that’s highly unusual in scope with topics covering collective bargaining, property acquisition, public safety, litigation and attorney-client matters, contract negotiations, and personnel and appointments.

The agenda specifically flags discussion topics including an affordable housing update, redevelopment litigation and Tatlock Community Preservation Association litigation.

The whole thing comes across as a “two-front war” that Summit’s fighting on land use: required by the State to build housing on one front while juggling litigation on another.

Good times.

The core of the night is a package of ordinances scheduled for hearings on March 3.

One ordinance closes the Chestnut Lot connected to the sale of the firehouse property; which means it won’t be City owned and can’t be used for permit parking once the sale goes through.

Another ordinance is looking to take down zombie properties and force owners of vacant or foreclosed homes to register them with the City immediately and uses high fees as a weapon. The longer a house sits empty, the more expensive it becomes for the owner. Fines start high and skyrocket over time.

A third ordinance hits the ‘reset’ button – deleting an obsolete chapter and updating the rest to match new state laws.

There’s a bunch of zoning ordinances that appear designed to implement the Round 4 plan at the district level with a focus on restructuring overlay zones, shifting to a 20% minimum affordable set-aside and creates new affordable housing zones.

Now onto the resolutions…

The finance committee is asking for a deadline extension in completing its annual financial statement and budget introduction/adoption. The same section includes emergency temporary appropriations that expand the temporary municipal operating budget, along with emergency temporary appropriation actions for the parking utility and the sewer utility. The agenda also lists total bills and payroll approval in the amount of $2,589,019.38.

The agenda includes a state contract for Fire Department radios totaling $225,103.77. Capital and engineering items include a Park Line Project Phase bid award of $98,800 and two separate auths for consultant engineering services, NTE $100,000 each.

Questions Residents Can Ask on the 02/17/2026 Meeting Agenda

Chestnut Lot

How many permit spots are going to be removed? Is there a plan to replace them?

Vacant Property Registration

How will folks who are temporarily absent due to medical issues protected? Probate? Renovations?

How with this ordinance differentiate a property that’s ‘blighted’/abandoned’ v. temporarily unoccupied?

Delayed Financial Statement

What are the reasons for the extension Request-? Staffing? Discrepancies?

Utility ‘Emergencies’

Why does Parking and Sewer need ’emergency’ temporary appropriations at this point in the year? Are there revenue shortfalls? Did the temporary budgets underestimate costs?

Fire Dept Radios

Is it that the gear is old or a new system requirement? Will they work with the PD and other towns?

Engineering Costs

Two items totaling 200k for the ’26 Capital Improvement and Glenside Ave Improvement Projects- what does this cover? (design, construction management)? When will public see design plans for Glenside?

Meeting Packet