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How much housing does Maplewood have to create over the next decade? Here are the numbers – and some background on the controversy.

Patch Staff

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — State officials have released the affordable housing quotas that New Jersey towns and cities will have to meet over the next 10 years, including Maplewood.

A law passed last year gave the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) the authority to determine how many affordable housing units every municipality must create and maintain.

Last week, the DCA released its highly anticipated list for 2025-2035. The calculations include numbers for “present need” (existing housing units deemed substandard/deficient and in need of repair), and “prospective need” (the number of new units that will be needed based on population trends).

Here are the totals for Maplewood:

Municipalities have to come up with a plan to meet their quotas and get it approved by state officials by next summer – unless they plan to challenge the numbers. Read More: New Affordable Housing Mandate Released By NJ (See Your Town's Share)

Find out what's happening in Maplewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Some towns have already gotten a jump on the process, with one New Jersey mayor declaring that a recent settlement isn’t perfect, but “doesn’t bleed out forever and doesn’t cost us lawyers.” Read More: NJ Town Reaches Settlement, Will Build 1,500 Affordable Housing Units

CONFLICT BREWS IN NEW JERSEY

Towns and cities don’t have to create the housing themselves, but must ensure that the threshold is met – often by requiring affordable housing units as part of local real estate development projects.

This has caused some bad blood between the state and some municipalities, including Millburn, which has joined a lawsuit with several other New Jersey towns seeking to overturn the law. The town is on the hook for 555 prospective units, as per the DCA’s numbers.

The mayor of another town involved in the lawsuit, Montvale – which will need to add 348 affordable units over the next decade – said that the quota opens the door to massive development in the borough.

“Montvale's obligation is 348 units, which means if we were to follow and allow to build at 20 percent inclusionary affordable housing, we will have to build 1,740 units,” Mike Ghassali wrote last week, bashing the DCA’s numbers.

“The state has handed us housing requirements that defy reality and will force local governments to stretch their resources to the breaking point, all while diverting attention from other critical community needs,” Ghassali insisted.

Other towns that have signed on for the lawsuit include Denville, Florham Park, Hillsdale, Mannington, Montville, Old Tappan, Totowa, Allendale, Westwood, Hanover, Wyckoff, Wharton, Mendham, Oradell, Closter, West Amwell, Township of Washington, Norwood, and Parsippany-Troy Hills.

Assemblywoman Victoria Flynn (NJ-13) said the current method of calculating affordable housing quotas is a "logistical nightmare."

"There isn’t enough land in New Jersey to meet these development goals," the state lawmaker argued. "The state's electrical and water infrastructure cannot afford to absorb additional development. Our roads and bridges are in constant disrepair, and public transportation is insufficient or nearly non-existent in most of the state. The high-density development proposed will cause irreparable and irreversible harm to the environment."

On the flip side of the coin, some elected officials have supported the law, arguing that it’s time for “ultra-wealthy communities” to create their “fair share” of affordable housing. Read More: NJ Advocates Defend State's Affordable Housing Rules Amid Lawsuit

“This is a statewide issue that is driving up costs for everyone living in our state, not just in the suburbs or cities but across the board,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said last month.

“Most New Jerseyans understand the need for more housing because most New Jerseyans want to reduce costs, prevent homelessness and raise our standard of living,” Baraka said. “But we can’t do this by fighting each other. When we waste time fighting amongst ourselves, housing continues to go unbuilt and we all lose.”

Newark – the state’s largest city – has 4,630 affordable housing units that need to be rehabbed, the highest total in New Jersey. See Related: ‘Affordable’ Isn’t Affordable: Newark’s Plan To Create More Housing

Some advocates, including the Fair Share Housing Center, called the legal effort to derail the new law a “smokescreen,” and said it will likely be thrown out of court.

“This lawsuit is nothing new — it’s supported by many of the same ultra-wealthy communities who have fought affordable housing for decades, every step of the way,” the nonprofit charged.

According to a statement from the group, the methodology is fair: Towns that have more jobs, fewer environmental constraints, more proximity to transportation corridors and less existing affordability have larger obligations. Meanwhile, towns that have fewer jobs, more environmental constraints, less proximity to transportation and more affordability have lower obligations.

And letting real estate developers run rampant in the suburbs is far from the only way to meet a quota, the nonprofit says:

“New Jersey law gives towns a wide variety of tools to create affordable housing in the way they prefer. Municipalities can choose from a range of options — including 100% affordable housing, mixed income housing, preservation of existing affordable homes that otherwise would no longer be affordable, and accessory dwelling units that a property owner can place on their property. The recently-enacted law and associated bills give towns additional tools like new bonuses, financing options, and credits to meet their obligation.”

Currently, the state needs to rehab 65,410 affordable homes or apartments to meet its housing needs. Looking ahead, an additional 84,698 units will need to be built across New Jersey over the next decade, officials say.

These numbers still fall short of what the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates is needed for extremely low-income households, which is 214,475 rental homes.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN NEW JERSEY

When Gov. Phil Murphy signed the new law last year, he gave some background about what led to its creation. He wrote:

“Affordable housing has been a central public policy challenge in New Jersey for nearly half a century. Forty-nine years ago, in a case brought by two local branches of the NAACP, the New Jersey Supreme Court held in a landmark ruling that every municipality must ‘make realistically possible an appropriate variety and choice of housing.’ The court went on to say that towns cannot stand in the way of opportunities for low- and moderate-income housing. This principle became known as the Mount Laurel doctrine. To this day, it is studied by law students and lawyers all across the nation.”

There have also been negative impacts from the Mount Laurel doctrine, some pundits point out.

Community activists have complained that real estate developers have been able to use the doctrine to file "Builders Remedy" lawsuits in order to build large, multi-family developments that may be in conflict with municipalities' master plans – setting up conflicts between local leaders and angry residents.

The New Jersey Legislature later adopted the Fair Housing Act in 1984 and created the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) — a bipartisan agency of members representing different interest groups — in order to prevent courts from becoming the forum for resolving these land use issues.

“For decades, all three branches of government have wrestled with how to apply the principles of Mount Laurel in practice,” Murphy wrote last year. “At times, our state Legislature has tried to address this issue. At other times, the process for determining affordable housing obligations was left to an executive branch agency. But more recently, over the last 10 years, this process has mainly played out in the courts, through litigation.”

The time for that is over, Murphy said.

With the signing of last year’s bill, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs is now running the numbers. Towns will have the freedom to come up with plans to meet those quotas. Municipalities can earn bonus credits for constructing affordable housing where it is needed most, such as transit hubs, or for providing housing for vulnerable populations like senior citizens.

The new process replaces the role previously played by the COAH, which has been “defunct” for over a decade and was formally abolished under the bill, the governor’s office said.

The law also bans regional contribution agreements — in which towns pay neighboring municipalities to bolster their affordable housing stock instead.

DCA Commissioner Jacquelyn Suárez said the new law gives New Jersey a unique opportunity to develop “missing middle” housing: options like townhouses, duplexes and other types of multi-family units.

These types of housing can “bridge the gap” between single-family homes and large apartment complexes, offering the diverse housing choices that New Jersey families need, Suárez said.

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Don't miss chef Humberto Campos's lump crab and mushroom crêpe in beurre blanc at Lorena's. Courtesy of Lorena's

Known for its handsome old homes and canopied streets, Maplewood has a compact downtown, known as the Village—the blocks on either side of the train station that a number of the roughly 23,000 residents take to and from jobs in Manhattan.

Many of the newer residents are Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens transplants—meaning their standards for restaurants are high.

Most of the notable places to eat in Maplewood are downtown, with a few exceptions on the outlying commercial thoroughfare, Springfield Avenue. Options range from one of the finest French restaurants in New Jersey (Lorena’s) to a beloved pizzeria’s new chapter (Artie’s).

Below are our top picks for the best restaurants in Maplewood, in alphabetical order.

Why should you trust this list? Put simply, New Jersey Monthly knows New Jersey’s dining scene. Our editors and restaurant critics spend endless amounts of time traversing the state to dine at all types of establishments, from fine-dining restaurants to pizza places, old favorites to new restaurants bringing their own flavor to New Jersey’s culinary scene.

Enjoy!

[RELATED: The Best Restaurants in New Jersey]

Artie’s

Photo: Courtesy of Gevon Servo (@gevonservo)

In May 2023, Maplewood favorite Arturo’s merged with its sister bakery the Bread Stand and moved to a larger spot. The new place is now an all-day establishment, serving fresh baked goods in the morning at the bakery counter, then lunch and dinner. The big draws are the daily fresh pastas, salads, small plates and nicely charred wood-fired pizzas of chef/owner Fred Shandler. 15 Newark Way, 973-378-5800

Cornbread

Photo: Courtesy of Cornbread Maplewood LLC/Rana Duzyol

This fast-casual “Farm to Soul” restaurant with tables, counter service and delivery is one of three locations of a brand founded by two women, Adenah Bayoh and Elzadie Smith, who grew up on Southern cooking, (The other locations are in Pennsylvania.) The small menu offers chicken (fried or baked), fried turkey wings, fried fish (whiting or catfish) and ribs, with a choice of sides. BYO. —EL 1565 Springfield Avenue, 973-313-0328

Lorena’s

Salmon tartar Photo: Courtesy of Lorena Campos

Since its opening in 2005, chef Humberto Campos’s jewel box of French-inflected fine dining (named for his wife, Lorena) has been a standout not only in Maplewood but in greater Essex County and beyond. Aside from his signature creation—the lump crab and mushroom crêpe in beurre blanc—Campos delivers excellent contemporary takes on favorites such as duck breast, rack of lamb, filet mignon, halibut and molten chocolate cake. —EL 160 Maplewood Avenue, 973-763-4460

MaMa’s Southern Style BBQ II

Although it sits just across the border in the Vauxhall section of Union, Mama’s is considered a local staple by Maplewoodians, who smile when they think of it. “I haven’t met no one that came here just once,” says Chris Finnick, pitmaster since 2007 of this takeout establishment (with a couple tables), opened in 1997. The native Jerseyan taps his family’s Carolina roots to infuse sweet-and-sour style into barbecued chicken, pork ribs, beef short ribs and chopped pork sandwiches. His mother, the owner (“I just go by Mama”), says the pork gets a dry rub, is baked for four hours, smoked in a coal-fired pit, chopped, then marinated overnight in her grandfather’s Carolina vinegar sauce. Pork ribs get a similar treatment. The menu includes fried chicken, fried whiting, catfish, shrimp and tilapia as sandwiches or dinners. Add candied yams, collards, string beans or Spanish rice, among other sides. Perhaps the toughest choice is dessert. So many paths to perdition: sweet potato pie, banana pudding, peach cobbler, pineapple-coconut cake and more. Regulars know to call in their orders to shorten waits in the tiny space. “It gets crowded here,” says Finnick. “There’s a lot of kitchen and no front.” BYO. —Mary Ann Castronovo Fusco 2083 Springfield Avenue, Vauxhall, 973-687-0400

Mt. Fuji

This sushi specialist rolls out one of the longest specialty roll lists you’ll find anywhere—47 all told, from the basic $4 cucumber roll to several $17 kitchen-sink numbers, including the Crazy Dynamite Roll (spicy lobster salad, shrimp tempura and avocado topped with spicy salmon, spicy whitefish, tempura chips and hot sauce). In addition to sushi and sashimi, the kitchen turns out tempura, beef negimaki, tonkatsu, hot pots and fried rice dishes. Open seven days a week. BYO. —EL 166 Maplewood Avenue, 973-378-8336

St. James’s Gate Publick House

Grab a burger, some fries and a Guinness. Courtesy of St. James’s Publick House

How Irish is St. James’s Gate? Look no further than its website’s homepage, which features a second-by-second continuous countdown to the next St. Patrick’s Day. In addition to (equally British) specialties such as bangers & mash and shepherd’s pie, the pub is prized for its excellent burgers. And 20-ounce pints of Guinness draft. Lunch and dinner are served seven days a week. —EL 67 Maplewood Avenue, 973-378-2222

Wild Ginger

In addition to traditional Thai soups, sautés, curries and noodle dishes, Wild Ginger crosses culinary borders with Vietnamese summer rolls, Indian roti with curry dipping sauce, Chinese lo mein and General Tso’s chicken. It’s open for lunch as well as dinner. BYO. —EL 175 Maplewood Avenue, 973-378-8822

MORE LOCAL DINING GUIDES: The Best Restaurants in Jersey City The Best Restaurants in Morristown The Best Restaurants in Montclair

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Read more Eat & Drink, Top Restaurants by City articles.

Seven candidates have filed this year to run for three seats on the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education. Village Green has invited each candidate to submit a profile. The following profile is from Bimal Kapadia. Read more Village Green election coverage here.

My wife Swati and I moved to South Orange in 2016. The creativity, vibrancy and diversity of the town made it easy for us to call SOMA home.

My children have been in the school district since 2020, starting in Kindergarten. My boys, Saiyan and Nikhil, are now 3rd and 4th graders. Their enthusiasm for school is infectious. And their teachers have been wonderful which is always a case for optimism. However, their foundational years coincide with massive, public challenges at the district level: a pandemic, delayed reopening, an aging infrastructure, litigation, teacher contracts, attrition, academics and arts in a stallout, a collision of equity and achievement philosophies, budget cuts, a scheduling fiasco and a visibly fractured BOE. The communication and relationship between the district and the parents has been fraught – the distance seemingly intentional. And parents, teachers and students are exhausted. That needs to change.

I’m running because I’m an optimist, and this district is full of potential. We have a new superintendent in Mr. Bing – a symbol of progress in leadership. Newly elected board members this year can provide the opportunity for new energy and support for our district, superintendent, teachers, parents and students. We’re at an inflection point.

I’m an entrepreneur with deep passion and experience in the media industry. I’m currently COO and Co-founder of Meadowlark Media – a creative studio focused on producing TV shows, podcasts, documentaries and films. My role requires me to lead teams with relentless optimism, to communicate, to execute, to find consensus and ensure accountability- all with a focus toward growth and impact. These are all skills that will serve me well on the BOE.

Most importantly, I will bring my entrepreneurial and creative spirit to the BOE. Which is only possible because of the access and investment my public school and the teachers provided for me throughout my education. Particularly the arts, which opened a new world for me and enabled me to pursue a career in media. It’s this spirit I would like to instill in our students as part of the education formula that can be unique to SOMSD.

I’m very excited to be running with Deirdre Brown and Jeff Bennett. We are a great alchemy of empathy, tenacity and enthusiasm. Collectively we have over 30 years in the community and have children that have attended pre K to 12th grade in SOMSD. With kids spanning the full range of grades in our district, our slate is able to evaluate policies and conduct Board governance from a parent’s perspective, which contributes greatly to our collective vision of growth and accountability in our schools.

I graduated from the College of William and Mary with a degree in Economics and minor in Art & Art History. My wife, Swati, and I have two children who attend South Mountain Elementary. In my spare time, you can find me at one of the many tennis courts in town or on the sideline at my kids’ SOMA FC soccer matches where I am also a volunteer for the program.

I know what SOMSD can be, it’s why we moved here years ago. I’m running for BOE because I can listen, communicate and represent what parents are thinking, feeling and saying, but not always heard.

To find out more about our campaign, please visit/follow us at:

https://www.brownbennettkapadia.com/

https://www.facebook.com/brownbennettkapadia

https://www.instagram.com/brownbennettkapadia

"Working with such brilliant and motivated students is truly a privilege," their school principal said.

Patch Staff

SOUTH ORANGE-MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of the South Orange-Maplewood Public School District. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

The South Orange and Maplewood community celebrates academic excellence at the start of the school year, with 47 Columbia High School students being recognized in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program and the College Board’s Recognition Program. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) has a long-standing tradition of honoring academic excellence without government funding and offers scholarships through the support of nearly 280 national businesses, colleges, and individual donors dedicated to recognizing the nation’s brightest young minds.

Commended students were acknowledged for their exceptional academic promise, demonstrated by their outstanding performance on the qualifying test for the program. In October 2023, students entered the competition by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The NMSC identifies the top 50,000 highest scorers and notifies them of their high achievement.

"These students have shown an exceptional level of intelligence and determination, and working with such brilliant and motivated students is truly a privilege,” Frank Sanchez, the principal of Columbia High School said. “I also want to commend our incredible CHS faculty for mentoring, inspiring, and teaching these gifted students.”

National Merit Semifinalists for Spring 2025

Find out what's happening in Maplewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

National Merit Commended

College Board Recognition Program: African American Scholars

College Board Recognition Program: First-Generation Scholars

College Board Recognition Program: Hispanic Scholars

College Board Recognition Program: Hispanic and Indigenous Scholar

The excitement continues at Columbia High School, as four students—Theodore Abbate, Ruby Hoffman-Werle, Henry Martin, and Oliver Nesin—have been named semifinalists in the prestigious 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These exceptional students are part of an elite group of more than 16,000 semifinalists nationwide, with the opportunity to advance in the competition and vie for scholarships in Spring 2025.

“South Orange and Maplewood educators have done an outstanding job inspiring, mentoring, and guiding students throughout their academic journey,” Superintendent Jason Bing said. “These achievements represent great collective efforts of our entire community—students, teachers, staff, and families all previously working together to foster an environment where every student can thrive. We are excited to continue supporting these scholars throughout their academic journey.”

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), approximately 95% of semifinalists are expected to advance to finalist status, and about half of those finalists will earn the prestigious Merit Scholar title. In total, nearly 6,870 National Merit Scholarships will be awarded, with recipients sharing $26 million in scholarships to support their educational pursuits.

These four students exemplify not only their own dedication and hard work but also the unwavering support of the educators who have guided them throughout their academic journeys.

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Frustrated teachers marched in South Orange and showed up to speak at a board of education meeting in Maplewood.

Patch Staff

(Photo: Russ Crespolini)

SOUTH ORANGE-MAPLEWOOD, NJ — A labor standoff between the South Orange-Maplewood Public School District and its teachers union spilled out into the streets on Thursday, with frustrated educators marching in South Orange and showing up in full force at a board of education meeting in Maplewood.

Contract negotiations between the district and the South Orange-Maplewood Education Association (SOMEA) have been turning sour in recent weeks, with a dispute over pay reportedly among the sticking points.

The SOMEA has been sharing updates about the ongoing talks on their website and social media pages.

Patch reached out to the South Orange-Maplewood Public School District seeking comment about Thursday’s rally and the contract negotiations. We will update this article with any reply we receive.

On Thursday, union members were seen marching through downtown South Orange, carrying signs that read “Settle Now!” and “We Are Worthy.”

Find out what's happening in South Orangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Later, several members of the SOMEA spoke about their frustrations during the public comment portion of the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education meeting (watch the video below, cued to their statements).

Arun Vadlamani, a school board member who is running for re-election, posted an analysis of the negotiations on social media earlier this week, as well as an update a day later. Vadlamani noted that he was not speaking on behalf of the entire board.

The union questioned Vadlamani’s claims in their own recent social media post.

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