Moorestown Mall May Be Deemed An Area In Need Of Rehabilitation

MOORESTOWN, NJ — A proposed ordinance that would re-zone the Moorestown Mall and the K-Mart Shopping Center that was delayed earlier this month passed with no changes Monday night. However, a bigger discussion emerged concerning the mall as a possible area in need of rehabilitation.

Council unanimously approved a proposal to establish an overlay zone for the mall and the shopping center during Monday night’s meeting at town hall. It had previously delayed the vote so it could consider suggestions from mall owner PREIT and technical suggestions submitted in a letter from Planning Board Planner Michelle Taylor.

However, a decision had to be made by Monday night so the township could have the plan in place before its compliance hearing concerning its affordable housing obligation. The proposals concern the township’s unmet need for affordable housing, and doesn’t factor into this round of development.

After discussing the issue with township staff, Township Manager Tom Merchel realized the changes were substantial and couldn’t be implemented before the compliance hearing. The proposal went to a final vote Monday night, with changes possible after the compliance hearing. Officials have said since its introduction that the proposal was just a placeholder. The final vote was 4-0, as Deputy Mayor Brian Donnelly wasn’t present.

There was a related non-consent agenda resolution calling for the planning board to review a proposal that the mall should be deemed an area in need of rehabilitation.

Several concerns were voiced about this proposal, which was ultimately continued until the March 9 meeting. The final vote here was 4-1, as Donnelly participated via conference call, and Councilwoman Victoria Napolitano said she wouldn’t consider entering into rehabilitation with a publicly traded company.

“These talks would have to be held in private because they can’t discuss anything in public before they talk to their shareholders first,” Napolitano said. “ … This is huge. This has enormous implications for the town and the mall. We never agreed on rehabilitation as a council and now this is here.”

For Napolitano, the ultimate question was whether the town should even consider it, not whether it is technically correct.

“Redevelopment is done all the time at malls, and plans are revealed to the public before they move forward,” Mayor Nicole Gillespie said Tuesday morning.

The item was listed on the agenda published on Friday, but details about the proposal, including that it involved the mall, weren’t available until Monday afternoon. Napolitano and Councilman Mike Locatell said they were excluded as members of the only two Republicans on the five-member council.

“None of us saw this until today,” Gillespie said during the meeting. “When I saw there was no attachment, I emailed our solicitor and told him that it needed to be added.”

The township had been in discussion with the mall about redevelopment for several months.

“The mall was growing frustrated because they felt like nothing was happening,” Gillespie said Tuesday morning.

She said the township floated the idea of rehabilitation to the mall, and they were in favor of it. Locatell said the township manager asked him about the idea of rehabilitation last week, but thought it would only be a discussion item.

He was concerned about wording in the resolution that states “that the Township Council submits the attached proposed resolution determining the Mall Property, more specifically identified as Block 3000, Lots 2, 3, 3.01, 3.02 and 5, is a delineated area that is determined to be in need of rehabilitation.”

He says this means the township is making this determination. He wanted to take more time to look into it and learn about the issue before making a decision. On Tuesday morning, he said he was never in favor of redevelopment.

"I thought the township could take care of it through traditional zoning," Locatell said.

On Monday night, Donnelly said this opens up the conversation, and the planning board can make its own determination if needed.

“This opens up the dialogue,” Donnelly said. “This is just how it works. Maybe the planning board will determine that this should be an area in need of redevelopment instead of an area in need of rehabilitation. We have to do something about this, and this is the first step.”

Township Solicitor Kevin Aberant described the designation of an area in need of rehabilitation as “redevelopment lite.”

According to the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association, an area is designated as in need of redevelopment when structures need upgrading and improving, and uses appropriate to a specific area are introduced. An area is designated as in need of rehabilitation when existing structures are rebuilt to eliminate substandard structural or housing conditions, and to arrest the deterioration of the area.

Designating an area in need of redevelopment allows entities to use eminent domain, which allows governments to seize private property for public use, with compensation.
Designating an area in need of rehabilitation allows entities to offer tax abatements for up to five years. Gillespie said tax abatements are not required.

A tax abatement is a temporary reduction or elimination of property taxes. Municipalities use them to entice developers into their town, offering a complete elimination of taxes in the first year and slowly building so that the owner of the property is eventually paying full property taxes due.

There are also specific standards for each designation that an area must meet. According to the American Planning Association, an area is considered in need of rehabilitation when:

• A significant portion of the structure is deteriorated or in substandard condition and there is a pattern of vacancy, abandonment or underutilization, and the property is behind in paying taxes; and
• More than half the housing stock or the water and sewer infrastructure is at least 50 years old.

Redevelopment areas have more criteria, including unsafe and untenable living conditions. All criteria can be seen here.

The American Planning Association is an organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. It calls itself the largest organization of professional planners in the country.

For years, Macy’s, Sears and Lord & Taylor stood firm at the mall. However, those stores have all announced they are leaving in the last few years. PREIT has made moves to bring the mall in a new direction, with the addition of businesses such as Joe Italiano's Maplewood, Hash House A Go Go and The Yard House. The spot where Macy’s formerly stood will house Sierra and HomeSense.

Pursuing rehabilitation would give the township power to make a more complete deal, Gillespie said.

“It would give us added power to decide what it would look like,” Gillespie said.

She said the criteria is more appropriate, the township doesn’t want to pursue eminent domain and redevelopment brings long-term tax abatements with it, which the township doesn’t wish to pursue.

The planning board would have 45 days from the time the proposal is approved to review the resolution and make a recommendation to council. In that time, the planner has to put together a report showing why the mall should be designated as an area in need of rehabilitation. The board could review the criteria at its March 5 meeting, and render a decision at its April 2 meeting, Aberant said.

Critics said the planning board isn’t being afforded enough time to come to its own conclusion, and the proposal was ultimately continued. During that time, Gillespie said the town can take time to better educate the public on the issue.