Public Hearing on Municipal Complex Redevelopment Plan – October 20

Published on October 02, 2026

PSE&G Presentation and Public Hearing on Municipal Complex Redevelopment Plan – October 20

The public hearing on Ordinance O-26-39, which would adopt the Municipal Complex Redevelopment Plan, will be held at the October 20, 2026 Township Council meeting, rather than the originally announced October 6 meeting.

At the October 20 meeting, PSE&G will make a presentation regarding the need for a new electrical substation to serve Montclair customers, its site-selection process, the alternative locations it has evaluated, and the reasons it has identified the Municipal Complex property as its preferred location.

Deficiencies in the existing municipal building have been identified on numerous occasions. Long before PSE&G expressed any interest in the Municipal Complex property, numerous public meetings were held to discuss options for the municipal building ranging from rehabilitating the existing building to having the municipal building located at a different location. The key factor was the relative cost of the different options. One factor in the cost is the value the Township would receive for the Municipal Complex property if the municipal building would be located elsewhere.

Currently, the Municipal Complex property is zoned Public limiting its use to public uses. This reduces the value of the property. In order to determine the maximum value of the property if it were sold, the zoning of the property needs to be changed to allow other uses so a fair evaluation of the relative costs of rehabilitating the existing building and relocating to another location could be made. This process was started when the prior Township Council designated the Municipal Complex property as an area in need of redevelopment. The Council is now implementing that designation by proposing a redevelopment plan for the Municipal Complex property. This is what the Council was preparing to do when PSE&G approached the Township about using the Municipal Complex property.

Ordinance O-26-39 would adopt a redevelopment plan establishing permitted uses for the Municipal Complex property, including public utility use in addition to the other uses that were originally contemplated for the Municipal Complex property. This would allow the property to be considered as a potential location for an electrical substation in addition to those other permitted uses. Adoption of the redevelopment plan would not constitute approval of a PSE&G substation or authorize construction of one. It is a land-use step that would permit public utility use on the property. No site plan for a substation has been developed or submitted at this time.