Moorestown Township’s recent amendments to its affordable housing plan were “endorsed by the judge” at a fairness hearing on Monday, June 24, according to Township Manager Thomas Neff.
“The judge found in favor of the municipality’s amendments to the Fair Share plan, and it’s moving forward and has set a date for moving forward with taking the steps necessary to move towards a compliance hearing in the next 120 days,” Neff said at Monday night’s council meeting.
The ruling means that the Pennrose location could be out of the picture if the site becomes unavailable for development. In April, Judge Ronald Bookbinder asked the township to identify an alternate site to Pennrose, a site currently embroiled in pending litigation. Pennrose LLC is attempting to invalidate a restrictive covenant that limits development at Pennrose’s proposed site located at 160 Route West Route 38. While this covenant is in place, Pennrose is unable to construct its proposed 75 multi-family affordable housing units on the site.
In early June, council passed a resolution approving an amendment to its settlement with Fair Share Housing. The township identified the Miles Technology Site located on Route 38 as a Pennrose alternative and added the Diocese of Trenton’s Centerton Road location to the overall plan.
Mayor Lisa Petriello asked Neff where the planning board currently stands with approving the housing element of the township’s master plan. Neff said the planning board requested an additional planner to help it review and incorporate the proposed amendments.
Deputy Mayor Nicole Gillespie expressed concerns about what might happen if the housing element isn’t adopted in time.
“This is my current understanding; if we go to compliance and the housing element has not been accepted, that makes our whole settlement vulnerable,” Gillespie said.
Tony Zappasodi, director of community development, explained that the planning board will need to have a new, amended housing element plan in place in advance of the compliance hearing with enough time to allow for notice by the public.
Neff said in light of Monday’s hearing, he and township staff planned to sit down with the chair and vice chair of the planning board to discuss their next steps. Zappasodi said his best estimate was that it would take around three or four weeks to incorporate the amendments into the plan. The adoption could take place during only one meeting, according to Locatell and Donnelly.
The township does not currently have a date set for its compliance hearing. The township’s attorney, Kevin Aberant, said usually the operative deadline for a compliance hearing is 120 days after the fairness hearing.
The next meeting of Moorestown Township Council will take place on Monday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall.
