The sequence, briefly

The Fourth Round covers 2025 through 2035 and is governed by legislation signed in March 2024 that restructured New Jersey's affordable housing process.

In October 2024, the Department of Community Affairs published a non-binding obligation number for each municipality. Towns then adopted a binding resolution stating their own calculation by January 31, 2025, with a challenge window closing February 28. A dispute resolution program made up of retired Mount Laurel judges settled the contested numbers, and 159 municipalities sought to reduce their assigned obligations.

Housing Element and Fair Share Plans were due June 30, 2025, with challenges due August 31 and resolution by December 31. The final step was adopting implementing ordinances, amended plans, and administrative documents, due in March 2026.

Which means that as of now, in most Bergen and Hudson County municipalities, the ordinances are in the code. Not proposed. Adopted.

What an overlay actually does

This is the part most homeowners misunderstand, and the misunderstanding runs in both directions.

An overlay zone does not replace the underlying zoning. It sits on top of it. The uses and standards the underlying zone permitted are generally still permitted. The overlay adds an alternative set of permitted uses and standards, and a property owner within the overlay may develop under either.

So an overlay does not mean anything will be built. It means something additional may be built, at the density and dimensions the overlay specifies. For a neighbor, that specification is the useful information, because it defines the realistic ceiling.

A worked example

Englewood Cliffs adopted Overlay Zone C and Overlay Zone D on the southern portion of the Sylvan Avenue corridor through Ordinances 2026-05 and 2026-06. Both are inclusionary overlays tied to the borough's Fourth Round obligations. Both permit multifamily residential at a maximum density of twenty dwelling units per acre, with a minimum twenty percent affordable set-aside and a parking requirement of 1.7 spaces per dwelling unit. The underlying zone's permitted uses are not modified by the overlay.

Read that as a homeowner and you can answer real questions. Twenty units per acre tells you the building scale. The parking ratio tells you roughly how many additional vehicles a full-density project would introduce. And because the underlying uses survive, you know the overlay is an option a developer may take rather than a mandate.

The borough also adopted a Fourth Round spending plan and an affirmative marketing plan by resolution, and authorized a consent order for conditional compliance certification. Those are the administrative mechanics behind the overlays, and they are public documents.

How to find out what applies to you

Four documents answer almost every question, and all four are public.

The Housing Element and Fair Share Plan. This is the master document. It contains the site suitability analysis and identifies the specific parcels the municipality selected to meet its obligation. If your street is near one of those sites, this is where you find out.

The implementing ordinances. These carry the actual standards: permitted density, set-aside percentage, height, parking ratio, and setbacks. The plan says where. The ordinances say what.

The zoning map as amended. Overlays are mapped. Look at the boundary rather than relying on a description, because overlay edges frequently follow lot lines rather than streets, and being across the street from an overlay and being inside one are different situations.

Current Planning Board agendas. Adopted ordinances are the framework. Applications are what actually gets built. An application under an overlay will appear on a Planning Board agenda with a full submission set, often including a traffic impact study and a drainage report, both of which are more informative than any summary.

What this means if you are buying

If you are considering a property near a corridor that carries an overlay, pull the ordinance before you write the offer rather than after.

The specific things worth knowing: whether the parcel itself is in the overlay, what the overlay permits at maximum density, whether any application is currently pending on adjacent parcels, and what the approved site plans on nearby parcels look like.

This matters most for properties whose value depends on a view or on low-density surroundings. On the Palisades ridge, a sightline is the most expensive feature a property has and the least legally protected. On a quiet residential street backing onto a commercial corridor, the buffer is the asset.

None of this argues against buying near an overlay. Corridor redevelopment often improves the retail and services within walking distance. The argument is only that you should know before you commit rather than learn from a construction notice.

What this means if you are selling

Two things.

First, if your property sits in an overlay, that may be relevant to how it is marketed and to who the buyer is. A single-family lot inside an inclusionary overlay has a development option that a comparable lot outside the overlay does not, and that option can have value.

Second, if a pending application near your property is likely to become public during your listing period, it is better to be ahead of it. A buyer who discovers a pending application on their own during attorney review reacts differently than one who was told.

If you want to know how your property sits relative to current land use activity nearby, start with a valuation and I will pull the relevant agendas along with the comparable sales.

The Three Pillars Behind a Land Use Question

Zoning changes touch timing, value, and the daily experience of living somewhere, which is why the ordinance is worth reading before the offer.

Frequently Asked Questions

About Scott Selleck

Scott Selleck is a dual-licensed New Jersey and Florida REALTOR and Broker Sales Associate leading The Selleck Group at Keller Williams City Views Realty. Licensed since 1993, with more than 500 transactions closed serving Bergen and Hudson County. He specializes in guiding longtime homeowners through home sales and New Jersey to Florida relocations with an education-first approach.