At the special meeting of Moorestown Township Council, council revealed where affordable housing will be developed.
Town Council has revealed the proposed locations where affordable housing will be developed to satisfy its obligation of 337 units, if the plan is approved in court.
At a special meeting on March 6, Beth McManus, the township’s housing planner, said the township will user four developer intervenors at sites on Centerton Road, Route 38 and the Lenola Shopping Center, and zoning overlays at the K-Mart lot, the Moorestown Mall and the Lenola Shopping Center to meet its obligation.
According to McManus, intervenors are developers who request the inclusion of their site in the township’s affordable housing plan. She said the township ultimately negotiated with these intervenors so the township can have a degree of control over the properties.
Through negotiations, the Centerton Road property, near the intersection with Country Club Drive, will see 211 units for senior citizens in two buildings — one with 130 luxury housing units and one with 81 affordable rental units.
The township and developers also negotiated 173 total units with 20 percent set aside for affordable housing at the “MRD” property on Route 38 near Mt. Laurel, and 75 units, all of which are set aside for affordable housing, at the Pennrose site on Route 38 a few properties west of MRD.
Finally, the Lenola Shopping Center site was negotiated to include 60 total units with 20 percent set aside as affordable housing, McManus said.
In total, 191 affordable housing units will be built by intervenors, leaving the township with 146 units to be built. McManus said when selecting additional sites, the township stuck to two principles: avoiding non-sewered areas, because putting high-density housing in an area without sewer is cost-prohibitive, and not going it alone but rather seeking the assistance of developers so the full brunt of the cost does not fall on the township.
McManus walked attendees through the township’s plans to satisfy the remaining obligation. She said the Sbar property on Lenola Road located in the northwest corner of the township adjacent to Cinnaminson will be host to 180 total units with 20 set aside for affordable housing. The Nagle Tract will feature 152 total units with 30 percent set aside for affordable housing.
Finally, the township will satisfy the last units through three means, the first of which is by bringing 20 special needs units to town — the sites of which have yet to be identified. The township will purchase 30 existing homes in town to resell at low-/moderate-income pricing. The township will also provide subsidies for 15 accessory apartment units added on to current homes, which homeowners can rent to low- or moderate-income families for a period of 10 years.
The township is also using overlay zoning that provides housing as an option in addition to the current allowable use of a lot. The K-Mart lot, the Moorestown Mall and the Lenola Shopping Center have all been selected as sites the township anticipates developing housing on in the future.
Councilman Michael Locatell thanked his colleagues for their time spent working on “a solution to an unsolvable problem.” He said he’s been frequently approached by residents who have questioned why the township has chosen to settle rather than fight in court. He said the township has been in litigation with five plaintiffs, all with their own interests at heart, and a protracted court case could see years in court, millions of dollars in legal fees and ultimately a higher obligation number.
“The best case result in a lawsuit is actually worse than our negotiated number,” Locatell said.
Mayor Stacey Jordan said council has worked hard to arrive at the solution they think is the best for Moorestown given the circumstances. She said it was difficult not being able to inform the public of the progress along the way, and she thanked the public for their patience.
“It’s been a tremendously difficult road that we’ve gone down,” Jordan said.
During public comments, Valerie Holmes said affordable housing is concentrated from Chester Avenue through Lenola Road while in her eyes, the east end of town has a much lower concentration.
“It just seems, you know, unfair that so much of the affordable housing starts at Chester Avenue and works its way through town,” Holmes said of the disparity.
Jordan responded by saying council is making an effort to scatter the housing throughout town. She said the east end of town has non-sewered areas, which if they ran lines to these areas would have their affordable housing obligation number rise even higher.
Resident Kathy Sutherland said council did a very good job with the obligation, but looking at the map, the east/west disparity is apparent. She said she understands why the township is doing what it is doing, but she doesn’t like it. She said the people who moved to the east side of town moved there with the intention of not having certain types of people living near them.
“They need to have more low- and moderate-income homes out there,” Sutherland said.
Sutherland suggested the east side of town be considered as the township decides where to locate the add-on apartments, special needs units and resold housing units.
Resident Jack Fairchild asked council if there were a construction schedule for any of the five sites.
Locatell said the settlement still has to go to court, get approved by the judge and turned into an agreement with the intervenors. He said that process is still months away.
Jordan said the public will have further opportunities for input at the upcoming council meeting on Monday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall. To view the presentation in its entirety, visit www.moorestown.nj.us.
