To the Editor,
The Mayor & Council recently approved a large, high-density apartment project with 152 units directly across from the Moorestown Upper Elementary School (UES) on Borton Landing Road, without any input from area residents or parents. This is a bad idea.
The project will create dangerous traffic at the UES. Can we expect over 250 vehicles leaving the project daily? There could be 200 students attending ALL the Township schools, with many school buses driving out of the complex to the other elementary, middle and high schools. The council created a new public bus route, to bring people from southern NJ to the UES doorsteps. Delivery trucks will be barreling into the complex at all hours. Will students hear heavy equipment for over two years during construction?
This location is dangerous for the project’s children. Kids must cross the road (40 mph) to get to/from school, with a crossing guard. After school, kids may cross the road for Pryor Park or the UES playgrounds without a crossing guard. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Residents are dissatisfied with this plan. There are better locations for a large apartment complex such as on Rt. 38 (two apartment projects in development), the Moorestown Mall (375 new apartments approved) or the old K-Mart (300 apartments). Those locations make sense, with easy access to jobs, stores, restaurants, highways and existing public transportation.
The council has not been transparent. The planning/approval process was completed while they met “virtually.” This site involved a private “land swap” secretly negotiated. Less than three months elapsed between announcement of the project in May and approval in July 2021.
For these reasons, we started a Petition (link: https://change.org.uesapartments) for the council to delay this project until it can be further studied or relocate the apartments to an appropriate location.
Rob Paglione
Moorestown, NJ
