At the Monday, Sept. 25, Moorestown Council meeting, the standing-room-only crowd asked council for more information regarding the town’s affordable housing obligation.
Concerned residents filled the Council Chambers of Moorestown Town Hall at the Monday, Sept. 25 Township Council meeting to inquire about the township’s affordable housing obligation. The standing-room only crowd inquired about the impact additional affordable housing could have on residents, but due to ongoing litigation, council members were largely unable to respond to residents’ questions with any specificity.
Resident Rob Paglione began the hot topic of conversation by presenting council with a petition circulating on change.org. The petition — that had more than 400 signatures when it was presented to council — calls for the township to put a halt to the development of the Nagle Tract on Hartford Road.
The petition follows the township’s Sept. 5 notice of a Request for Qualifications seeking “developers qualified to finance, build, maintain and manage a 100 percent affordable housing project.” On Wednesday, Sept. 20, the township held a conference for developers to answer questions in relation to the RFQ.
Paglione said the residents who signed the petition aren’t necessarily against affordable housing but rather want to know what’s going on.
“You’ve picked out, without telling any of us, this Nagle Tract, and that’s it and that’s not fair and we’re upset about it and the petition says halt — not because we’re against affordable housing,” Paglione said.
Paglione repeatedly clarified the petition was “not a case of not in my backyard.”
“I think we’re entitled to know the exact and current status of this affordable housing proposal,” Paglione said.
Township attorney Kelly Grant responded by saying the township is limited in its capacity to speak due to ongoing litigation.
“The township right now doesn’t know it’s third round housing obligation,” Grant said. “To the extent that we can have this conversation in public, I have to remind the public that this is all subject to litigation, so what we can say is limited in that regard. Notwithstanding the township does remain committed to providing affordable housing and continuing to provide affordable housing.”
Resident Natalie Pope asked for clarification regarding the litigation.
“Can you give us at least what the basis of this litigation is so we’re not sitting here going we don’t even know who’s suing who over what?” Pope asked. “Can you at least tell us that?”
Grant said when the Council On Affordable Housing existed, that’s when the township submitted its plans to the state agency. Following COAH’s disbanding, towns have to petition the court for approval of their affordable housing plans, with developers and other interested parties intervening on these proceedings through declaratory judgment actions.
Grant said in 2005, the township filed a declaratory judgment action with the superior court of Burlington County.
“Since then, Fair Share Housing Center became an intervenor, or a defendant in that case and said that, ‘we want to be involved in the township’s plan and as they go forward to determine their affordable housing obligation,’” Grant said.
Grant said the number of units is still being litigated.
Resident Christin Deacon inquired about giving residents more context on the background of the current litigation.
“Has there ever been consideration of putting the documents on the Moorestown website to make sure that everybody’s up to date?” Deacon asked.
Councilwoman Lisa Petriello agreed with Deacon’s suggestion.
“I think anything that we can put out there is to the advantage,” Petriello said. “What we can share, I think we should share.”
Councilman Michael Locatell said council shared in residents’ frustration. He said he wished council was able to provide residents with more information.
“We’re in this process; we’re in a litigation,” Locatell said. “We have a court master and a judge that’s looking at what we’re doing, and we’re trying to traverse that, and at the same time we have a negotiation going on with fair housing to mitigate the numbers they originally brought, which are extraordinarily high.”
Elizabeth McManus, an attorney representing the township, clarified that the Sept. 20 conference that sparked the turnout at Monday’s meeting was not a request for proposals from developers. She said at present, the township is just seeking developers’ qualifications, and there is no deal with any developer.
“Just to give folks a general understanding, there are over 500 units of affordable housing throughout Moorestown already,” McManus said.
Township Manager Thomas Merchel provided some background, saying many of the decisions regarding low-income housing were made years ago, with the Nagle Tract having been purchased by the township back in the 1980s.
“This property has been deemed and was purchased for the purpose of building 100 percent low- and moderate-income housing,” Merchel said.
Paglione, who repeatedly returned to ask questions throughout the open public comments portion of the meeting, said the township should be fair and spread the affordable housing around rather than just sticking it in one spot on the Nagle Tract.
Resident Jamie Boren said she’s not in favor of an “exorbitant amount” of affordable housing, but she was surprised that residents who live near the Nagle Tract are only finding out now about the tract’s designation.
“I knew that it was low/mod income housing because it’s on a giant map in Town Hall that everyone’s welcome to look at,” Boren said.
Boren said Moorestown has “very nice” affordable low-to-moderate housing that some residents don’t even realize is there.
Resident Melissa McGrath said much of her frustration comes down to taxes.
“This, to me, is not about not wanting poor people in town; it’s not being afraid of poor people in town,” McGrath said. “It’s being stretched to the limit on our taxes now — stretched to the limit at the school level, at the fire department level, at the police level.”
She asked who was looking out for residents’ best interests.
Locatell assured McGrath that council was looking out for those same concerns.
“Those thoughts are not lost in this negotiation,” Locatell said. “It’s tough to look at strangers and say, ‘Trust me, I’ve got your best interests at heart.”
The next meeting of Moorestown Township council will take place on Monday, Oct. 23 in Town Hall.
