By ROBERT LINNEHAN | The Haddonfield Sun
Less than a month after the Council on Affordable Housing was suspended by the state, Haddonfield had its third-round housing element and fair share plan finally approved after more than five years of litigation.
The borough was set to have its plan approved this past February, but Gov. Christie put a 90-day ban on any action taken by COAH.
The approval of Haddonfield’s plan means the Scarce Resource Restraint will be lifted from the borough. The restraint was essentially an order from COAH that prohibited any substantial new construction within Haddonfield, other than single properties. It was levied against Haddonfield in November of 2004.
“This is helpful for the borough in that it lifts the restraint on development within Haddonfield,” Commissioner Ed Borden said. “It allows property owners to improve their property as they see fit.”
The restraint limited Haddonfield property owners to only being able to construct one- or two-family homes on the pieces of land they own, Borden said. Now that the restraint is gone, Borden said they will be able to improve or add to their property as long as the borough approves of their plan.
Before its plan was approved, Haddonfield hadn’t been COAH compliant for several years, as with many other municipalities throughout the state.
See this week’s print edition of The Sun for the full story.
