02/15/2026
Another “Routine” Agenda: The 2/17 Connell Density Bomb
What was proposed, what it could enable, and why residents needed clearer documentation.
Series
Virtual City Coming to Berkeley Heights?
One reader described a “virtual city” taking shape — shorthand for the clustered 4.5 million square feet of proposed development and the local infrastructure demand it could create.
“Very frustrating to say the least, it appears all this was in the works for years. A virtual city being built that will affect traffic, storm water runoff, waste water treatment, school population increase and most definitely the quality of life in a once small suburban township.”
— Reader comment (public meeting attendee)
What “Virtual City” points to: a concentration of scale that traditional zoning was never intended to absorb without real discussion of traffic, stormwater, wastewater, schools, and quality of life.
Transparency gap: scrubbed agendas, no redlines, no Zoom participation, locked transcripts — issues we’ve flagged repeatedly over the past month.
One of the clearest moments of pushback from a Berkeley Heights representative focused not on the scale of development, but on an OPRA lawsuit the Township lost.
Read the series (fact-based coverage)
02/17/2026
Following NJ21st Report, Berkeley Heights Scrubs Connell Density Plan
After scrutiny, the item disappeared — without the kind of transparency residents should expect.
03/01/2026
No Redline, No Explainer: Resident Presses Council on Pulled Ordinance
Basic questions, missing documentation, and a process residents say is getting harder to follow.
02/28/2026
Connell Density Plan Reappears: Here’s What Changed
A side-by-side mindset: what moved, what didn’t, and what residents still couldn’t see.
03/03/2026
Decades of Change: Berkeley Heights Moves to Finalize Affordable Housing Framework
The bigger framework, the stakes, and what residents should watch in the process.
Infographic
Virtual City Infographic
Click to enlarge.