John O’Sullivanfor MayorMike Havardanskyfor Council

John O’Sullivanfor Mayor

Mike Havardanskyfor Council

South Brunswick · Mayor & Council · Nov. 3, 2026

A massive data center is being built in South Brunswick. Our neighbors said no.

East Brunswick and North Brunswick banned new data centers. Princeton officials urged the state to deny the air permit. South Brunswick is still writing the rules after construction began.

Comment to the DEP by Nov. 9Make your voting plan

Vote to Save South BrunswickO’Sullivan for Mayor · Havardansky for Council

John O'Sullivan
John O’Sullivanfor Mayor
Mike Havardansky
Mike Havardanskyfor Council

No data centers. No new warehouses.

DEP comment period closes
Mon., Nov. 9
Early voting
Oct. 24 – Nov. 1
Election Day
Tue., Nov. 3
  • Vote to Save South Brunswick
  • No data centers in our town
  • No new warehouses
  • Dayton
  • Deans
  • Kendall Park
  • Kingston
  • Monmouth Junction
  • O’Sullivan for Mayor
  • Havardansky for Council
  • Vote Tuesday, Nov. 3

Your team for South Brunswick

Two neighbors. One plan.

Planning today for the town we will share tomorrow.

  • John O’Sullivan

    for Mayor

    John O’Sullivan

    Former Township Councilman. Asked the questions from the audience for ten years before he was elected.

  • Mike Havardansky

    for Township Council

    Mike Havardansky

    29 years in South Brunswick. 35+ years in accounting and finance, and a watchdog for every tax dollar.

Meet John and Mike →

01The data center

No data centers in our town.

East Brunswick and North Brunswick said no. South Brunswick should too. John and Mike will use every action the township has to protect residents.

Illustration: homes beside a 341,000 square foot data center with 12 diesel generators, crossed out with a red no symbol.NEIGHBORS341,000 SQ FT · 143 ACRES12 DIESEL GENERATORS IN THE DRAFT AIR PERMIT
Illustration, not to scale.
  • 341,000square feet on 143 acresOff Route 1 at 4405 Route 1, the former Princeton Nurseries site
  • 12emergency diesel generatorsIn the draft state air permit
  • 2neighboring towns banned new data centersEast Brunswick and North Brunswick
  • 2027when the township’s own rules arriveCarley says the data center ordinance will be adopted after the election

Why we say no

Rows of server racks inside a data center hall
A typical data center server hall, not the South Brunswick site · Stock image

A 341,000-square-foot data center is rising on 143 acres off Route 1, on the former Princeton Nurseries site. Its draft state air permit covers 12 emergency diesel generators.

Our neighbors saw this coming. East Brunswick and North Brunswick banned new data centers. Princeton officials urged the state to deny the air permit.

South Brunswick did neither. The township’s rules for noise, backup power, water and setbacks are still being drafted. Mayor Carley says they won’t be adopted until 2027: after the election, and after construction began.

John and Mike’s position is simple: no more data centers in South Brunswick, and every action the township can take to protect the people who live next to this one.

What John and Mike will do

  • Ban new data centers

    Introduce an ordinance banning new data centers in South Brunswick, as East Brunswick and North Brunswick have done.

  • Oppose the diesel air permit

    Put the township on record urging the state DEP to deny the permit for 12 diesel generators, as Princeton officials did.

  • Strictest limits on the one being built

    Push for battery backup instead of diesel, enforceable noise limits, water-use limits and no generator runs during air quality alerts.

  • Monitor the air, publish the data

    Independent air monitoring near the site and public records of every hour the generators run.

  • Use every legal tool

    Review every approval, permit and agreement, and defend the ban if it is challenged in court.

  • Residents first

    A community benefits agreement and real buffers for the neighborhoods closest to Route 1.

The facts

  • The developer is Sentinel Data Centers. The project is under construction. The applicant on record was WRV Nurseries South Brunswick LLC.
  • The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is taking public comment through Nov. 9 on an air permit for the project’s 12 diesel backup generators.
  • The draft permit would bar running the generators during air quality alerts.
  • Princeton officials urged the DEP to deny the permit.
  • East Brunswick and North Brunswick have banned new data centers.
  • The Township Council designated the site for redevelopment at its Aug. 7, 2024 meeting.

What the mayor says

Paraphrased from Mayor Carley’s Patch candidate profile, Oct. 12, 2026.

  • The township does not issue the air permit; the state does.
  • The project was a permitted use under a 2005 agreement among the township, Princeton University and the state. That deal preserved 214 acres as the Mapleton Preserve and zoned the remaining Route 1 land for office and commercial use.
  • Litigation over the approvals is pending.
  • He prefers batteries over diesel generators.
  • Water use is projected at the equivalent of 10 to 15 homes.
  • He supports an ordinance now being drafted, headed to the Planning Board and council in the first quarter of 2027.
  • Data centers have operated in town quietly for decades.

Shedding light

It didn’t just happen. Someone approved it.

  • The draft DEP air permit calls the generators a “minor source,” yet it still allows lead, benzene, formaldehyde, arsenic and soot.
  • The permit only calculates emissions for routine testing, not for outages or peak-demand days, when the generators may run during heat waves.
  • Princeton’s Mayor and Council asked the DEP to deny the permit as written, citing air quality near their neighborhoods and two elementary schools.
  • More than 100 people attended the Sept. 23 DEP hearing.
  • In August 2026, the Governor held a bill signing right here in South Brunswick.

What we’re asking for, now

  1. A town-wide public meeting where the Mayor and Council explain how the project was approved and answer residents’ questions.
  2. Show residents the community benefits agreement, and what the town got in return.
  3. Strong local protections for our water and air.
  4. A real voice for residents in the Master Plan, before big decisions are made, not after.

They kept you in the dark. We’ll keep you informed.

Questions for the mayor

  1. Why are standards for noise, backup power, water and setbacks being written only after construction began?

  2. Why wasn’t battery or hybrid backup power required as a condition of approval?

  3. Who pays if electricity or water demand rises?

  4. Where is the community benefits agreement, and what did South Brunswick get in return?

  5. Our neighbors banned new data centers. Why hasn’t South Brunswick?

Comment to the DEP by Nov. 9Make your voting plan

02Warehouses

No rezoning. No new warehouses.

The LI-5 ordinance opened the door to 2.7 million square feet of warehouse or data center space at Ridge and Perrine Roads, in a residential neighborhood, with narrow two-lane Ridge Road as its only access.

Illustration: a warehouse up to 2.7 million square feet beside homes, with trucks on two-lane Ridge Road heading toward the high school, crossed out with a red no symbol.HOMESUP TO 2.7 MILLION SQ FT · LI-5 ZONESCHOOLRIDGE ROAD: TWO LANES, THE ONLY ACCESS
Illustration, not to scale.
  • 2.7Msquare feet allowed at Ridge & Perrine
  • #1it would be the largest warehouse in New Jersey
  • #11largest in the whole country
  • 2lanes on Ridge Road, the only access

The wrong place for a warehouse

Tractor-trailers on a highway
Stock image
  • It sits in a residential neighborhood.
  • Its only access is Ridge Road, a narrow two-lane township road.
  • Route 1 and Ridge Road is already one of the worst intersections in the township.
  • Trucks heading down Ridge Road toward the high school put students at risk.
  • The developer’s traffic study never mentions South Brunswick High School, on the same road, and its counts were taken after school let out.

The developer’s own study counts 4,342 vehicle trips a day from two buildings of 1.5 million and 1.2 million sq ft.

But what about the $8 million?

The developer’s $8 million payment into the affordable housing trust is worth considering. It isn’t worth the safety risk to our neighborhoods and our students.

In the developer’s own words

Their traffic study. Our roads.

  • 4,342vehicle trips a day
  • 1,472truck trips a day
  • 400loading dock doors
  • 505trailer parking spaces
  • At Route 1 and Ridge Road, the morning wait to turn left grows from about 3 minutes to about 4 minutes per vehicle (185.5 to 237.4 seconds).
  • The evening wait for the same turn more than doubles, from 74 to 160 seconds.
  • Backups on Route 1 are expected to spill back through the next intersection.
  • The study lists “unacceptable deteriorations” under state standards at four intersections, and says retiming the signals does not fix them all.
  • Yet it calls the impact on the surrounding roads “minor.”
  • It never mentions South Brunswick High School, on the same road.
  • Its traffic counts were taken on June 27, 2023, with school out, then adjusted up 11%.

Source: Kimley-Horn, Ridge Road Industrial Park Traffic Impact Study, April 2025, prepared for the developer.

What John and Mike will do

  • No rezoning

    No land rezoned for warehouses. Not on Ridge Road, not anywhere.

  • No new warehouses

    No new warehouse approvals. South Brunswick has done its share.

  • Students first

    Keep trucks away from the high school, and enforce weight limits on neighborhood roads for real.

  • A Master Plan for residents

    Rewrite the Master Plan around residents, with independent traffic studies and a fix for Route 1 and Ridge Road.

In the news: South Brunswick, warehouse market

Investors are buying and trading warehouses here by the hundreds of thousands of square feet. Truck traffic is already part of daily life. We don’t need more.

Our safety isn’t for sale.

See the planMake your voting plan

03Growth

Thousands of homes, one set of roads, one water system, one school district

Ten housing projects and a zone for up to 2.7 million square feet of warehouses are in the pipeline. Every one of them shares the same roads, pipes and classrooms.

Aerial view of suburban homes, lawns and streets
3,177 court-mandated homes. One set of roads, one water system, one school district.Stock image
  • 3,177court-mandated homes on the wayThe township’s own count, as cited by Mayor Carley
  • 1,070more affordable units required by 2035Fourth Round obligation, Sept. 9, 2024 court settlement
  • 17,894new daily car tripsCampaign estimate (ITE rates) for the projects listed below
  • 4,342daily truck and car tripsThe developer’s own traffic study, 2.7M sq ft of warehouses at Ridge/Perrine Road
The projects listed below: mostly market-rateEach house ≈ 100 homes
  • Market-rate · about 2,500
  • Affordable · about 968
The biggest projects in the pipeline
ProjectLocationHomesAffordableEst. trips/day
PPF242 townhomes, 84 affordable apartmentsRoute 130 / Friendship326841,694
RPM177 affordable apartmentsHenderson & Blackhorse177177841
Jaynar212 age-restricted affordable apartmentsRoute 27 & Gateway2122121,001
American Properties90 single-family, 187 townhomes, 72 affordable townhomesRidge Rd & Schalks Crossing349722,578
Pulte Homes44 townhomes, 78 apartments, 30 affordable apartmentsMajor Rd & Route 115230748
East Meadow Estates55 single-family homesSingle-family550519
South Brunswick Center1,800 apartments, 360 affordableN. Umberland & Major1,8003608,550
Windsor Associates84 apartments; not yet approvedN. Umberland Way84n/a399
Princeton Orchard184 apartments, 27 affordableGriggs Dr & Route 52218427874
Lennar Homes129 townhomes, 6 affordableRidge / Independence Way1296690
Projects listed3,468968+17,894
Ridge Road warehouseRidge / Perrine Road2.7M sq ft4,342 trucks & cars

Projects, unit counts and car trips: the campaign’s “Developments Since 2018” list, compiled from township records. All projects except Windsor Associates are township or court approved. The list includes age-restricted and not-yet-approved projects, so its total differs from the township’s 3,177 court-mandated homes. Car trips are campaign estimates using Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) land-use rates. Warehouse trips: Kimley-Horn, Ridge Road Industrial Park Traffic Impact Study, April 2025, prepared for the developer. Township obligations: South Brunswick Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan (January 2026), implementing the Sept. 9, 2024 court settlement.

2018

After the 2018 election, Carley said residents feared overcrowded schools and strained infrastructure from thousands of court-mandated apartments.

Since then

Carley now says 3,177 court-mandated homes are on the way, and the September 2024 settlement adds 1,070 more affordable units by 2035.

Sources: local press coverage of the 2018 election; Mayor Carley’s Patch candidate profile, Oct. 12, 2026; the township’s Fourth Round housing plan.

The courts require it. The township decides how.

Affordable housing is required by the courts. But the township decides how it gets built. South Brunswick Center pairs 360 affordable apartments with 1,440 market-rate ones.

Carley himself says municipally sponsored, 100% affordable projects are the smarter route. So why does the pipeline carry about 2,500 market-rate homes to deliver about 970 affordable ones?

When housing outgrows infrastructure

Housing that expands faster than roads, schools and public safety strains all three. The council does not work with the School Board or the fire districts on redevelopment, and traffic and flooding keep getting worse.

John and Mike will review the plan the council agreed to, renegotiate where we can, and plan with the schools and fire districts before approving more.

See the planMake your voting plan

04Taxes

Who pays for the new students?

New homes bring new students. Here is our estimate of what that could mean for the school portion of your property tax bill, with the method shown in full.

Campaign estimate

+14.3%

estimated increase in the school portion of the property tax bill at full build-out, about $1,430 a year for an average home.

  1. 3,177 homes × 0.47court-mandated homes × school-age children per home = about 1,493 new students
  2. × $22,672per-pupil spending = $33.8M a year
  3. − $13.0Mestimated school tax paid by the new homes
  4. = $20.9M gap= 14.3% of the $145.9M local school levy
How to read this estimate
  • It is a planning estimate, not a budget.
  • It uses the average per-pupil cost for each new student.
  • It shows the effect at full build-out, not in a single year.
  • It uses the township’s own count of 3,177 court-mandated homes, the figure Mayor Carley cites.
  • The district’s own demographer projects about 1,663 new students over a decade, a figure Carley himself cites. That is close to our estimate.
  • If some units pay reduced school taxes under PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreements, the gap would be larger.

Sources: the $13.3M school tax for new homes (set for 3,256 homes and scaled here to 3,177) and the average school tax bill of about $10,000 a year come from the township office.

Campaign estimateEach year at full build-out
Cost to educate about 1,493 new students
$33.8M
School tax paid by the new homes, and the gap
Gap $20.9M
$13.0M paid
  • Paid by the new homes
  • Gap, about 14.3% of the $145.9M school levy

The 2026 municipal budget

What if the one-time money runs out?

South Brunswick’s 2026 budget leans on $10.05M of non-recurring revenue: $4.525M in surplus and $5.525M in State Transitional Aid. Neither can be counted on forever.

  • +19.2%municipal-purpose tax levy
  • +$465a year for the average-assessed home
  • $39more a month

Campaign estimate If the entire $10.05M had to be replaced through property taxes, with spending and all other revenue unchanged. Mike Havardansky, a controller with 35+ years in finance, will push for a plan that ends the township’s reliance on temporary money.

The pressure is already here

From Mayor Carley’s Patch candidate profile, Oct. 12, 2026.

  • $10Mless state school aid a year than seven years ago
  • $4.525Mof surplus used in the 2026 municipal budget
  • $6.5M → $5.525Mstate transitional aid, 2025 to 2026
“Nobody can promise a frozen tax rate and untouched services at once.”
Charlie Carley, Patch candidate profile, Oct. 12, 2026

What is the plan when the one-time money runs out?

See the plan

05Our town

What happened to the places we gathered?

A roller rink, a YMCA, a movie theater, a bowling alley, a shopping center. One by one they disappeared, while the warehouses grew.

  1. 53 years

    Kendall Park Roller Rink

    Drew up to 1,100 skaters on a Saturday on Route 27. Closed in 2017.

  2. 2013

    Our YMCA

    Closed its doors. About 400 members lost their Y and 90+ staff lost their jobs.

  3. 7 screens

    Kendall Park Cinemas

    Demolished in 1999 for more strip-mall stores.

  4. 32 lanes

    Kendall Park Lanes

    A hometown gathering spot on Route 27. Gone.

  5. 100% → 0

    South Brunswick Square

    Stop & Shop, Friendly’s, Bandito’s and more. Fully occupied in 2009, demolished in 2020. Now a truck dealership.

Our Community Center

Patched up. Still musty. Still out of date.

Years of quick fixes haven’t changed it: our Community Center is run-down. Our seniors, kids and families deserve better.

Our neighbors invested. Why haven’t we?

  • Monroe2 gyms, a fitness center and a hockey rink
  • East BrunswickAn arts center with a theater
  • South BrunswickAn old, musty building that keeps getting patched

Same leadership. Fewer places to gather. For decades, the same party has run South Brunswick. It’s time for a change.

See the planMake your voting plan

06Accountability

Open government. No divided loyalties.

When a town approves thousands of homes, a warehouse zone and a data center, residents deserve to see who was in the room and on what terms. They kept you in the dark. John and Mike will keep you informed.

Whose side is our lawyer on?

Two towns. One lawyer.

South Brunswick’s township attorney is North Brunswick Mayor Womack. When North and South Brunswick compete for the same development, can one person really serve both? South Brunswick deserves an attorney with no divided loyalties.

John and Mike’s pledge

Everything on the table, in public.

  • Publish their own financial disclosures
  • Recuse themselves from any matter where they have a conflict
  • Appoint a township attorney with no ties to a competing town
  • Hold town halls outside council meetings, where residents set the agenda
  • Announce every council and planning board meeting on Nixle
  • Post developer meetings and approvals online
  • Create a public Growth Ledger: every approved project, its impact on schools, traffic and water, and what each developer owes and has built

Water and infrastructure

On April 14, 2026, two water main breaks put the whole township under a boil-water advisory. Carley now promises more interconnections and a replacement schedule for old mains.

Why not sooner?

Source: Mayor Carley’s Patch candidate profile, Oct. 12, 2026.

See the planMake your voting plan

07The plan

Eight commitments, starting on day one

John and Mike’s plan for South Brunswick: practical steps a mayor and council can actually take, written so you can check whether they got done.

  1. No data centers in our town

    Ban new data centers, as East and North Brunswick did. Oppose the diesel air permit, and hold the project already under construction to the strictest limits the law allows.

  2. No new warehouses. No rezoning.

    No rezoning of land for warehouses and no new warehouse approvals. Rewrite the Master Plan around residents, not warehouses, and get trucks off neighborhood streets.

  3. Control over development

    Review the housing plan the council agreed to and renegotiate where we can. Plan with the School Board and fire districts before approvals, and with the state and county on traffic and flooding.

  4. Protect your tax bill

    A line-by-line budget review and a plan to stop leaning on $10 million a year of one-time money. A public school-tax estimate before any new approval.

  5. Places to come together

    Refurbish the Community Center into a modern place for seniors, kids and families. Upgrade parks with pickleball, tennis and cricket. Recruit restaurants, entertainment and attractions.

  6. Protect what makes us home

    Protect historic Kingston and Dayton. Preserve our parks and open space.

  7. Open government

    Town halls where residents set the agenda. Nixle alerts for every council and planning board meeting. A township website people can actually use, and a township attorney with no divided loyalties.

  8. Safe, reliable water

    An independent audit of the water system, a public dashboard of test results, and a funded schedule to replace old mains.

Comment to the DEP by Nov. 9Make your voting plan

08Meet the team

Two neighbors, running together

John O’Sullivan for Mayor and Mike Havardansky for Township Council. One team, one plan: planning today for the town we will share tomorrow.

John O'Sullivan

Candidate for Mayor

John O’Sullivan

Before John O’Sullivan was ever elected, he spent more than ten years at Township Council meetings asking questions. In 2009, South Brunswick voters elected him to the Township Council.

  • Former Township Councilman
  • Environmental Commission vice-chair
  • Emergency response volunteer
From the record
  • Monmouth Junction resident who, as of 2012, had lived in South Brunswick with his wife and children for 22 years
  • Elected to the South Brunswick Township Council on Nov. 3, 2009
  • Former vice-chair of the Environmental Commission
  • Member of the Civilian Emergency Response Team
  • Named Member of the Year (2011) by the New Jersey Local Boards of Health Association
  • Military service
  • B.A., Tarkio College
  • Attended council meetings for more than 10 years, asking questions, before he was elected
  • Worked on traffic signs on Stouts Lane for students walking from the high school
  • Pushed to coordinate road and sewer work so streets aren’t dug up again and again
  • Served on a council that kept the tax rate flat in 2012

Source: John O’Sullivan’s Patch candidate profile (Aug. 10, 2012) and the campaign.

Mike Havardansky

Candidate for Township Council

Mike Havardansky

Mike Havardansky has called South Brunswick home for 29 years. He and his wife, Kathy, have been married 30 years and raised their two sons here.

  • 35+ years in accounting and finance
  • VP and Controller, Premier Brands Group
  • Transportation Advisory Committee

South Brunswick needs fiscal responsibility, greater transparency and smart growth that puts residents first. Mike will push for responsible spending, accountability for every taxpayer dollar, and development that strengthens our community without burdening homeowners.

“Protect taxpayers. Make local government more transparent. Plan responsibly for South Brunswick’s future.”

Mike Havardansky
From the record
  • South Brunswick resident for 29 years
  • B.S. in Accounting, Seton Hall University
  • More than 35 years of experience in accounting and finance
  • Vice President and Controller, Premier Brands Group
  • Serves on the Township Economic Development Committee
  • Serves on the Transportation Advisory Committee

Source: Mike Havardansky’s 2026 campaign biography.

Make your voting planSee the plan

Election Day

Tuesday, Nov. 3. New leadership for South Brunswick.

Polls open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Early voting runs Oct. 24 to Nov. 1.

Make your voting planFind your polling place

09Vote

Make your plan to vote

Vote O’Sullivan for Mayor and Havardansky for Council. Pick the way you’ll vote and put it on your calendar. Every vote in a local race counts.

  1. Oct. 24 – Nov. 1Early votingIn person at county early-voting sites.
  2. Oct. 27Mail-in application deadlineLast day for the county to receive a mail-in ballot application sent by mail.
  3. Nov. 3Election DayPolls open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mail ballots must be postmarked by 8 p.m.
Check your registration and polling place

Official information from the State of New Jersey at vote.nj.gov.

Questions for John and Mike?

Email the campaign at southbrunswickrepublicanorg@gmail.com.

Hands placing a ballot into a ballot box
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