The Proposal

Kensington and Affordable Housing in Context

The Kensington assisted living facility proposed for North Maple Avenue is one of several strategies Ridgewood has identified to help meet its affordable housing obligations under New Jersey law.

It is not the only strategy — and it is not a building approval by itself.

Understanding what Kensington is — and what it isn’t — is essential to understanding what comes next.

Height comparison of current building to Kensington Assisted Living Building

What Was Originally Proposed?

The Kensington assisted living facility is a proposed luxury senior housing development at North Maple Ave., Marshall St., and Franklin Ave. in Ridgewood (Block 3611, Lots 1, 19, 22).

It would be operated by Kensington Senior Living.
The facility would include luxury assisted living apartments, 24/7 care, dining, and services.
By law, at least 10% of its beds must be reserved for low- and moderate-income residents for 40 years. Read details on affordable housing.
The site is in a B-2 business district today. To permit assisted living here as a principal use, the Village has pursued an S-1 Senior Overlay approach - first through Ordinance #4052 (defeated on August 13, 2025), and now through Ordinance #4071 (a new S-1 Senior Overlay ordinance currently under consideration).
Allowed a building height up to 71 feet (plus rooftop appurtenances of up to 10 feet) for a total of ~81 feet high.
All traffic would be directed through Franklin Ave and Marshall Street – with no vehicle access from North Maple Street.

Ordinance #4071 is the current S-1 Senior Overlay ordinance tied to Kensington. At the January 14, 2026 Town Hall, the Council opened the public hearing for Ordinance #4071 and took resident testimony.

The Village Council voted to defeat Ordinance #4052 after public hearing on August 13, 2025 - but the senior-overlay concept returned under Ordinance #4071. Voting on Ordinance #4071 and other ordinances is set for February 11, 2026.

Kensington returned with a revised proposal with minor changes.

The core project did not change: same use, similar size, similar number of residents.
Most revisions are technical refinements (setbacks, step-backs, roof form), not a fundamental reduction in scale or intensity.
The changes primarily improve regulatory compliance and defensibility, not necessarily resident experience or neighborhood impact.
Several key mitigation measures (traffic restrictions, delivery routing, construction logistics) remain conceptual, not binding.

Below is a side-by-side comparison of the original proposal vs. revised proposal — Highlighting the changes, and how meaningful those changes are.

Watch past recordings to see for yourself

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Conceptualized Designs Presented by Kensington

Kensington presented these mock up designs on December 15, 2025.

Click on the images to enlarge, full-screen.

Why Kensington Keeps Reappearing

Under New Jersey’s Fourth Round affordable housing rules, Ridgewood must prove to the courts that it has zoning capacity to meet its assigned housing obligation.

Kensington was included in Ridgewood’s Housing Element & Fair Share Plan as one way to satisfy part of that obligation.

Removing Kensington without replacing it creates a mathematical and legal gap — which is why it continues to resurface in discussions, even after Ordinance #4052 was defeated.

At the January 14 Town Hall, the Village described the Kensington zoning as court-mediated and tied to a settlement agreement, which they said limited their flexibility to write ‘ideal’ standards - making it even more important to insist on objective safeguards and master-plan consistency.

What the Ordinance Vote Did — and Did Not Do

Reject the specific zoning overlay as written
Send a clear message about scale, process, and neighborhood impact

The vote did:

The vote did not:

Eliminate Ridgewood’s housing obligation
Approve or deny construction
Resolve the broader compliance issue

Those questions are still being worked through.

Residents also argued at the January 14 hearing that a site-specific overlay for three lots - pre-setting use, density, height, coverage, and setbacks - is not the kind of general planning update contemplated by the 2022 Master Plan.