I'm trying to create an HTML/javascript project in netbeans by going to new project > php project. However it asks for a local server path, which I don't need and will interfere with running the website. Is there a way around this?
You don't need to specify the local server path; you can still debug against a remote server.
NetBeans PHP project type assumes that you are using server side dynamic scripting language PHP and such PHP pages need a web server to run them. Even if you added static pages like HTML pages, still the PHP project will need a local server to serve them to browser hence it asks for the local server publishing path.
NetBeans IDE does not currently have a static HTML project type, and if this type of projects are needed you should add enhancement requests in NetBeans project issue tracker.
SOLUTION:
One way of solving your requirement is to open the project folder through the Favorite panel in NetBeans IDE. This way you can open the HTML and JavaScript pages and also see them in browser by using the View menu option from the context menu of the HTML file node.