As candidates for the Franklin Township Committee, Phil Venticinque and Eugene J. Caldwell, II believe true leadership means doing the homework. You shouldn’t have to hire a land-use attorney or dig through hundreds of pages of dense legal jargon to find out what is going to be built in your own backyard.
That is why Phil and Eugene created this dedicated tracker. This page is your permanent resource for updates, explanations, and translated facts regarding the high-density housing crisis threatening Franklin Township. The Venticinque & Caldwell team is digging through municipal agendas, reading the 350-page court filings, and analyzing the 40-page ordinances to uncover exactly what the local establishment and fighting local factions are trying to pass behind closed doors.
Bookmark this page. When we are elected, you will never be left in the dark again. Here is the unvarnished truth, the math, and the recent chronological history of the threat facing Franklin Township.
The Real Math: 936 Mandated Units = 5,000+ Potential Homes
The most critical detail Phil and Eugene uncovered in the state court filings is the difference between what the state mandates and what the town actually zones for.
According to the official court notice, Franklin Township is facing a combined affordable housing obligation of 936 units (166 Prior Round, 527 Third Round, and 243 Fourth Round units).
However, because the local establishment relies on “inclusionary zoning”, where developers only make a small percentage of a project affordable, the Township is legally greenlighting massive, high-density, market-rate sprawl to offset developer costs.
To satisfy those 936 mandated units, the Township’s Inclusionary Housing Overlay Zoning allows for a staggering 5,003 new housing units across over 321 acres.
The High-Density Sprawl Calculator
The state mandates affordable housing, but the local administration voluntarily chose to meet it using 20% inclusionary zoning. This means for every 1 required affordable home, the Township’s plan greenlights at least 4 market-rate homes.
*Because developers can opt for 15% set-asides if they build rental apartments, the actual number of market-rate units forced onto the town by this local plan could be significantly higher.
The Complete Investigative Timeline (2025 – 2026)
Phil Venticinque and Eugene J. Caldwell, II tracked the official agendas, read the resolutions, and matched the dates to show you exactly how the administration has handled this behind closed doors.
1. The Quiet Period & The Root of the Problem (Early to Mid-2025)
- January 16, 2025: The Township officially files a Declaratory Judgment action to address its housing obligations.
- May 5, 2025: The Court enters an order officially setting the Township’s Fourth Round obligations.
- June 17, 2025 – The Document That Started It All: While residents were largely unaware of the massive scope of the changes, the Planning Board officially adopted the Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan. As Phil and Eugene’s research uncovered, this was not a state-mandated plan, this was a plan created and authored by the Township itself. Venticinque and Caldwell discovered that this document relied heavily on Ordinance O-22-23, which established the massive Inclusionary Overlay Zones that legally greenlight over 5,000 new housing units at extreme densities of up to 14 units per acre to satisfy the state mandate.
2. Developer Demands & Closed-Door Mediation (Fall 2025 – Spring 2026)
- August 25, 2025: The Fair Share Housing Center files a formal legal challenge against the Township’s June plan. Shortly after, aggressive developers, specifically ALR Franklin 1, 2, and 3 Property LLCs, filed their own lawsuits to exploit the town’s new high-density zoning.
- The Secret Negotiations: From September 2025 through March 2026, the fate of our unsewered infrastructure was negotiated privately in court-ordered mediation. Phil and Eugene exposed that the ALR developers demanded the right to build an overwhelming 4,117 total units across three properties, requiring massive public water and sewer expansions:
- Fries Mill Road Tract: 1,535 total units.
- Oak Avenue Tract: 582 total units.
- Pennsylvania Avenue Tract: 2,000 total units.
3. The Public Fights Back (April 14, 2026)
- Exposing the Deal. The Defeated Settlement (Resolution R-72-26): The Township Committee attempted to pass a Mediation Agreement to surrender to ALR Properties and their 4,117 units. Phil Venticinque discovered the hidden agenda item and alerted the community. Because of Phil’s outreach, concerned residents packed the committee room, bringing intense public pressure to a process that was supposed to happen in the dark.
- Speaking for the Taxpayers: Stepping up to the microphone, Phil Venticinque confronted the Committee on the record. He pointed out that the community was voluntarily exceeding the court-ordered mandate by hundreds of units to hand a corporate developer the right to build thousands of market-rate homes. Phil warned that adding over 4,100 homes would put an “unbearable permanent strain” on our wallets, our brave police officers, our public works employees, our hardworking municipal staff, and the dedicated teachers in our schools.
- Refusing to Back Down: Later in the meeting, when a sitting Committee member attempted to deflect blame, he stood up a second time. Phil reminded the establishment that the residents in the room would never have known this was happening behind closed doors if he hadn’t spoken up. Phil and fellow neighbors held the Committee accountable for failing to create an alternative plan, forcing the administration to abandon the mediation settlement and withhold their vote that very night. Phil Venticinque and a room full of residents proved that when you bring the facts to the light, the taxpayers can win.
- The Result: They pulled the official document for Resolution R-72-26. The roll-call voting block is entirely blank. The public outcry successfully forced the Committee to back down and withhold the vote.
4. The Midnight Overhaul (June 9, 2026)
Having failed to pass the developer settlement in April, the Township Committee executed a massive overhaul of the town’s zoning and housing regulations all in one night. Phil Venticinque and Eugene Caldwell read the fine print of these ordinances, so you know exactly what they did:
- Ordinance O-10-2026 (The “Bonus Fee” Loophole): This 40-page ordinance completely replaced Chapter 138 of the local code. Buried inside is a 6.0% “bonus fee.” If a developer is granted a variance to increase residential density even higher than our zoning allows, they pay the town this 6.0% fee that Phil and Eugene identified. The establishment essentially put a price tag on our rural zoning, allowing developers to “buy” the right to pack in more homes.
- The “Free Pass” Exemption: The new ordinance establishes a 6.0% “bonus fee” for developers who are granted a variance to build at higher densities than our zoning allows. However, buried in the text is a massive loophole that the Venticinque & Caldwell campaign uncovered: this fee “shall not be applicable to a development that will include affordable housing”. The ordinance further dictates that “inclusionary developments shall be exempt from paying a development fee.”
- What this means for you: Phil and Eugene want you to know exactly what this means: The corporate developers planning to build over 4,000 units in Franklin Township are proposing “inclusionary developments.” Therefore, they are completely exempt from paying these fees. The establishment is allowing outside developers to permanently alter our town with extreme high-density sprawl, and the developers are getting a free pass on the municipal development fees.
- The Public Admission on Video: Most startlingly, Phil and Eugene caught the administration confirming their new strategy out loud on the record. Instead of drafting a responsible alternative plan, the administration publicly admitted that they are abandoning the mediation negotiations to rely on their original, locally drafted June 2025 plan. The official statement read on June 9 confirmed that the Township is moving forward with the June 2025 plan, explicitly stating: “which is the one we are asking the judge to approve at the July compliance hearing.”
- Ordinance O-11-26 & Resolution R-86-26: The town introduced an ordinance to alter how public notices are handled, sending it to the Planning Board for review.
- Resolution R-96-26 & R-105-26: The town officially hired Triad Associates as their Administrative Agent and adopted an Affirmative Marketing Plan.
- Resolution R-104-26 (The Courtroom Pivot): This resolution authorized $20,000 for the town planner, Burgis Associates. But crucially, as Phil and Eugene found in the fine print, this document formally confirmed the administration’s new strategy: they are abandoning the defeated mediation agreement and are instead going to a judge to ask for approval of the original June 2025 plan.
5. Bypassing the Voters (The July 16, 2026 Court Hearing)
Because Phil Venticinque and the public stood up and blocked the developer settlement, the administration is now trying to bypass local accountability entirely.
- The Compliance Hearing: Phil and Eugene have confirmed that the
Thursday, July 16, 2026, at 9:00 a.m.,a virtual court hearing will be held before Judge Robert G. Malestein.- June 22, 2026: The hearing, scheduled for July 16, 2026, has been postponed by the Superior Court of New Jersey until Friday, September 18, 2026.
- The Threat: The township administration is asking the judge to legally approve their June 17, 2025 Housing Plan. Phil and Eugene are warning voters that if the judge approves it, the town will likely lock in the high-density sprawl (the 5,000+ zoned units) through the court. This maneuver was openly admitted by the township during the June 9th Committee Meeting.
- How to Watch: This hearing will be held exclusively on Zoom, with a simultaneous livestream for the general public via the New Jersey Courts website. The Venticinque & Caldwell campaign strongly encourages every resident to tune in.
Demand Transparency. Get Involved.
When the establishment tries to bury the facts in 300-page court dockets or backdoor meetings, the Venticinque & Caldwell campaign will dig them out. Phil Venticinque and Eugene J. Caldwell, II are stepping up because our community desperately needs steady, independent-minded watchdogs on the Township Committee who prioritize protecting our infrastructure over appeasing political insiders.
Decisions are being made right now that will permanently alter the future of our town. We need your help to get elected and spread the truth.
The Franklin Township Advisory & Defense Team: Ready on Day One
We are fighting for the rural character of our town, the safety of our neighborhoods, and the wallets of our taxpayers.
You are tired of the local political insiders having closed-door meetings while aggressive outside developers and attorneys dictate the future of our township. We are too. We believe true leadership means bringing the brightest minds in our community to the table.
Protecting a community takes more than just political slogans; it takes discipline, executive oversight, and a willingness to actually listen to the experts who live in our own neighborhoods. We are not just running a campaign; we are preparing to govern on Day One. We are actively recruiting local professionals, retirees, and experienced residents to form our Franklin Township Advisory & Defense Team. When elected, this coalition will serve as our front-line brain trust to join us in auditing municipal dockets, review zoning ordinances, and protect the rural character of our township. We are fighting for the roads we drive on, the fields our kids play on, and the quiet, rural character of our community.