Moorestown Council Approves Deal With Fair Share Housing Center

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown Council unanimously approved a resolution to enter into an agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center concerning its affordable housing obligations during a special meeting on Thursday, March 15, at town hall.

The agreement calls for the township to work with four intervenor developers and three programs to help satisfy its obligation of 337 new affordable housing units by 2025. The township will also engage in overlay zoning to satisfy its unmet need.

The resolution was approved by a vote of 5-0, and brings to a conclusion a negotiation process that has unfolded over the course of several years, with very little detail being provided to the public until now.
The number of required affordable housing units in municipalities statewide has been in dispute, and often in litigation, since 1999. In 2015, authority concerning setting affordable housing requirements for municipalities throughout the state fell on the courts.

Moorestown currently has 332 affordable housing units in the township, and a total of 7,950 homes overall, according to Housing Planner Beth McManus.

The Fair Share Housing Center, a public interest group established in 1975 to monitor, enforce and expand guidelines for affordable housing requirements, initially calculated that Moorestown needed 1,667 additional moderate and low income housing units to satisfy its third round housing obligation, according to their expert.

Through negotiations and the use of a Vacant Land Adjustment, which is when a "municipality shows it does not have adequate resources (land water and/or sewer) to provide a realistic opportunity for addressing the need for low and moderate income housing," the township was able to get its obligation lowered to 606 units, 337 of which must be new homes built by 2025.

Council members cautioned members of the public during Thursday’s meeting that the real work is about to begin, as each plan will have to go through the Planning Board and passed through ordinance by council, giving the public plenty of opportunities to voice their concerns.

One developer is on Centerton Road, where a 130-unit senior luxury property is proposed. With 81 affordable units, the total number of units proposed for the proposed development is 211. This proposal includes services and amenities, and would bring ratables to the township. The transportation would be provided.

Two other developers would build on Route 38, with one development proposing 173 units, 35 of which would be low and moderate income. The other is a 100 percent affordable development, with a total of 75 units.

A fourth developer would build no more than 60 units on the Lenola Shopping Center, 12 of which would be low and moderate income.

The Nagle Tract off Hartford Road, which the township already said wouldn't be 100 percent affordable housing, would see 152 total new units, 45 of which would be low and moderate income.

The township is also looking at re-zoning an area of land off Lenola Road near Cinnaminson in order to build 180 units, 32 of which would be affordable. Some residents are concerned about the area, which is currently a Special Restricted Industrial Area.

Sbar Inc. is currently set up at 14 Sbar Boulevard. It offers adhesives, art products, beads-jewelry, party cakes, candles, doll parts, fashion and floral products, foam products, frames, general products, greeting cards, home decors, products for kids, miscellaneous products, needle crafts, net items, packaging components, paints, school products, scrap booking-memory products, seasonal products, soft crafts, wearable products, and wood and yarn products to retail dealers, according to its website.

The closest residential area to the Sbar site is more than a mile away, residents argue, and there are no sidewalks or bike paths. Tractor trailers fill the area, and the speed limit is 45 mph. McManus assured residents the township can dictate some of the zoning as the process evolves, and they can do their best efforts to ensure the residential area is separate from the industrial area. There is also a neighborhood nearby, where children will be able to play with children from Cinnaminson.

The township is looking at three programs to fill the rest of its need. One is Community Options Inc., a nationally based nonprofit (IRS 501(c)(3) certified) organization incorporated in 1989 and headquartered in Princeton.

Community Options serves thousands of individuals with disabilities throughout 11 states, including Arizona, Kentucky, Maryland,New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, according to its website. It supports support individuals with intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities such as Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Fragile X Syndrome, Prader-Willi, and traumatic brain injury. Many of the individuals it serves also have co-occurring medical and mental health conditions such as Seizure Disorder, Pica, Diabetes, Mood Disorders, Schizoaffective Disorders, and Impulse Control Disorders.

The next is the Market to Affordable program. Market-affordable housing consists of non-subsidized rental units affordable to households. The township would purchase homes, and resell them as affordable units.
Under the third program, owners of existing homes would be permitted to rent out part of their homes to those in need who qualify for low and moderate housing.

Moorestown’s unmet need of 300 units could be covered by overlaying at the Moorestown Mall, the K-Mart Shopping Center and the Lenola Shopping Center. Each center would maintain their commercial uses, while adding a mix of market rate and affordable housing.

Read more here: Moorestown, Fair Share Housing Reach Settlement In Principle

Patch file photo