Moorestown Council Candidates Debate Affordable Housing At Forum

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Tuesday night’s debate between Moorestown Council candidates at William Allen Middle School covered a range of topics, including the affordable housing issue.

Incumbent Deputy Mayor Manny Delgado and Republican running mate Jamie Boren debated Democratic candidates Brian Donnelly and Nicole Gillespie in the forum moderated by 6 ABC Action News anchor and Moorestown resident Rick Williams.

The forum was presented by MooreUnity and questions were crafted by a committee and taken from members of the audience. One of the questions concerned what next step candidates would take to implement the township’s affordable housing plan.

In March, the township reached an agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center to build 337 new affordable housing units by 2025. Read more here: Moorestown Council Approves Deal With Fair Share Housing Center.

Donnelly referenced a lawsuit that was pending over the plan that put the whole thing in doubt, and noted the township had no fallback. He also noted that the township’s master plan has not been updated for nearly a decade, so that would have to be updated before the plan could be implemented.

According to the state’s website, municipalities are supposed to petition the Council on Affordable Housing for substantive certification of a housing element, as required by the state’s Municipal Land Use Law. They also petition for a “a fair share plan establishing a realistic opportunity for the provision of housing affordable to low and moderate income households directly related to certificates of occupancy issued for residential and non-residential market rate development.”

However, the COAH process fell apart and 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.

In reaching its agreement with Fair Share Housing, the township was able to reduce the number of units needed from 1,600 to 337, as Delgado reminded residents during the debate.

He also noted the township’s use of 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," according to the applicable affordable housing rules.

Officials have said that because of this move, the township’s Affordable Housing obligation will be completely satisfied once this round of development is complete. Read more here: Moorestown, Fair Share Housing Reach Settlement In Principle

“Affordable housing is an issue because the settlement allowed for property to be developed on land that has a deed restriction,” Donnelly said. “We failed to plan, and that all nests downward.”

Donnelly was referring to a restrictive covenant on land Pennrose wants to develop. The restrictive covenant stipulates that no dwelling can be built on less than half an acre of land, and that no dwelling that costs less than $5,000 shall be erected on any lot of ground of said premises.

Pennrose has filed a lawsuit that names some area residents to invalidate the covenant. A letter attached to the summons received by the property owners in the area states that they have been named as defendants because they own real property in Moorestown and Mount Laurel that is subject to the restrictive covenant.

“There is litigation, but we have saved the township a lot of money,” Delgado said.

“We couldn’t have planned for COAH,” Boren said.

She reiterated the importance of fulfilling the obligation. She noted that Delran began with an obligation of 40 affordable units, a number that increased to 200 following a legal fight with the Fair Share Housing Council.

Gillespie was critical of a plan that brings 900 total new homes to the township to satisfy the affordable housing plan.

“This will affect schools, taxes, traffic, the fire department and this is something we need to talk about now,” Gillespie said.

Boren, a member of the Moorestown Zoning Board, said the master plan has been updated three times in 10 years, including in 2011, when residents voted overwhelmingly to lift the township's century-long embargo on alcohol sales.

“We are required to do a re-evaluation every 10 years, and that’s where we are now,” Boren said.

“You can wait 10 years, but that’s the extreme, not the rule,” Gillespie said. “All the master plan work is being done behind closed doors, with no input from the community.”

New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law states, “The governing body shall, at least every ten years, provide for a general reexamination of its Master Plan and development regulations by the Planning Board, which shall prepare and adopt by resolution a report on the findings of such reexamination, a copy of which report and resolution shall be sent to the County Planning Board. A notice that the report and resolution have been prepared shall be sent to the municipal clerk of each adjoining municipality.”

Several other issues, including water quality, the health of the township’s finances and transparency were also discussed. Patch will post more on these aspects of the debate in the coming days. Residents can also learn more about the candidates at the following links:

Jamie Boren
Brian Donnelly
Manny Delgado
Nicole Gillespie

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