Easton board approves eight affordable homes, rejects downtown apartment variances

Zoning Hearing Board · Meeting of February 17, 2026

Easton's Zoning Hearing Board approved eight affordable-housing lots on Phillips Street and rejected a 50-unit downtown apartment proposal at its February 17 meeting. The board voted unanimously to grant three variances each for six South Side lots at 130 through 140 Phillips Street, and four variances each for two wider lots at 142 and 144 Phillips Street, clearing the way for the Greater Community Development Corporation to build four duplexes targeted at families at or below 100 percent of area median income, with sale prices projected between $200,000 and $250,000 and deed restrictions holding affordability for five to ten years. Engineer Richard Roseberry of Collier's Engineering and Pastor Philip Davis testified that no rear alley access exists and there is insufficient physical room for sidewalks or rear parking, a finding the board found persuasive despite objections from three members of the McMillan family at 151 Phillips and others who cited street congestion and property-value concerns.

All eight approvals carried a condition prohibiting on-street parking in front of the new properties. A separate application by GWG Rock LLC to build a 10,682-square-foot mixed-use building at 517-519 Northampton Street — roughly three times what the city's 15-percent-footprint rule allows — deadlocked 2-2 on both a motion to deny and a subsequent motion to approve, leaving the project denied.

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Source: the Zoning Hearing Board meeting of February 17, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.