Council Amends Affordable Housing Agreement, Talks Rezoning

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown Council made some moves on affordable housing issues that have been under discussion for several months Monday night.

Council finally gave its final approval to a proposed ordinance to amend its affordable housing ordinance to implement its third round of affordable housing obligations under an agreement previously reached with the Fair Share Housing Center.

The agreement, first reached in 2018, had to be amended after a judge ruled Pennrose couldn't move forward with a proposed 76-unit affordable housing complex off Route 38.

Pennrose had filed a lawsuit to have a restrictive covenant invalidated so it could move forward with the project. The judge ruled that because Moorestown could find an alternate site, it was not required to make the Pennrose project part of its affordable housing plan.

The township initially targeted the Miles Technology Site as a replacement site, but when no deal could be reached, it shifted its focus toward a site at the corner of Harper Road and East Gate Drive near the Moorestown Mall. The amended proposal has been on the table for several months. Council gave it unanimous approval at its meeting on Oct. 7.

The original site targeted by Pennrose had to be re-zoned to allow for affordable housing to be built there. Now that the project is not moving forward, residents in the area had appealed to the township to zone the property back to its original use before another developer could move in with another affordable housing proposal.

On Monday night, council unanimously approved a proposal on introduction to do just that. The proposal will now be considered by the planning board, which officials believe will likely find the proposal to be inconsistent with the master plan.

It would then come before council for final approval, which can be approved with an explanatory resolution. That vote would likely take place in November, officials said.