Planning Board Votes In Favor Of Affordable Housing Project

MOORESTOWN, NJ — The proposed 100 percent affordable housing apartment complex on Route 38 is one step closer to reality.

The Moorestown Planning Board unanimously approved a preliminary site plan for the complex that includes 76 units, 75 of which would be subject to affordable housing controls. The other unit would be set aside for the site's superintendent. The vote was 6-0.

Moorestown Urban Renewal Associates LLC, a.k.a Pennrose, will have to return to the planning board for final approval. In the meantime, it must consider a plan to make the site more ADA compliant.

There is currently ADA access on the third floor of the plan, but planning board members told the developers they want them to make the first two stories of the proposed four-story building compliant.

The approval came at the June 28 meeting, after the planning board heard from about 15 members of the public over a three-hour period. Watch the video from the meeting, posted by Citizens' Media TV, below.

Pennrose went before the planning board seeking a pair of variances, including one allowing them to put the sign for the complex within three feet of the driveway as opposed to the 50 feet required by the township. If the sign were 50 feet from the driveway, drivers wouldn't see it until they were beyond the driveway, the developer contends.

The other variance is to waive the planting of replacement trees. The developer said it would be pointless to remove trees that need to be removed, only to replace them. They told the planning board they were willing to work on a compromise.

The site calls for a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom rentals. This consists of 15 one-bedroom, 49 two-bedroom and 19 three-bedroom apartments, according to the presentation. It includes 115 parking spaces, including five handicapped spaces, in the rear of the complex, which is shaped like a “T.”

The project would be financed using low-income tax credits through a federal program established in 1986. The program provides tax incentives written into the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code to encourage developers to create affordable housing, according to the federal website for the program. Those credits are given to each state based on population, and each state distributes them based on need.

Before the planning board meeting, Moorestown Council voted in favor of entering into a financial agreement with Pennrose for the development. That proposal includes a 30-year PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) for the developer, a necessary step to help the developer obtain the low-income tax credits.

Following a lengthy process that included the township, the Fair Share Housing Center, the courts and intervenor developers, Moorestown reached an agreement to build 337 new affordable housing units by 2025.

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