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Cinnaminson Is Searching For Space For More Housing The State Is Requiring It To Provide 351 Affordable Units. But There Are Few Suitable Sites Left To Develop.

By Karen Auerbach, INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT

Posted: October 27, 1996

CINNAMINSON — When John Hunter’s ancestors purchased land here 16 years before America gained its independence from Britain, their farm stretched over 1,000 acres, sprawling across the borders of three future towns.

More than two centuries later, Hunter and his family grow sweet corn and sweet potatoes on 115 acres that are practically boxed in by industry and housing developments.

Years ago, developers approached the Hunters about purchasing their land. They said no, and eventually, the inquiries petered out. The family still has no intention of selling, said Barbara Hunter, John’s wife.

“This is more than a family farm; it’s a tradition, it’s a heritage,” she said.

As Cinnaminson struggles to provide affordable housing, however, its waterfront and the few remaining farms – the last ties to the town’s rural past – are virtually the only undeveloped spaces.

With Burlington County Superior Court reviewing Cinnaminson’s zoning laws as a result of lawsuits by two developers, Cinnaminson officials are looking at the township’s undeveloped land to determine where state-mandated affordable housing can be built.

Cinnaminson has no apartment complexes or single-family housing for low- to moderate-income families.

The township Planning Board this month gave the court its preliminary recommendations for a fair-share plan, which will determine how the township fulfills its state requirement of 351 affordable-housing units.

The recommendations identify six large sites and 11 smaller ones where the township could permit development of affordable housing. Among the properties are the Hunters’ farm and the Armstrong farm on the township’s Moorestown border, plus two Delaware River waterfront properties owned by the developers whose lawsuits forced the township to draft the plan.

CBD Development Inc., general partner in Harbour Reef Ventures, sued the township in May, alleging that the Planning Board evaded affordable-housing laws by rejecting the developer’s plans to build a 117-unit complex near River Road and Taylors Lane. Justin Spain, a Cinnaminson real estate agent, has been trying to develop the land for years. He sold the land to CBD about four years ago, but is a partner in Harbour Reef Ventures.

The Planning Board rejected CBD’s Harbour Reef application in April, after residents opposed it because of environmental concerns.

The dispute was not about affordable housing, residents and township officials say. But because Cinnaminson did not have an affordable-housing plan, CBD was able to sue the township based on the state Supreme Court’s 1983 Mount Laurel II decision, which provided developers with legal redress for restrictive zoning.

A second developer, Cresmont Limited Partnership, filed a similar lawsuit in June against the township. Cresmont never formally applied to the Planning Board for its proposed 579-unit Harbour View waterfront development on River Road, although it presented its plans to the Township Committee earlier this year, said Leo Holt, a principal partner in Cresmont and son of Delaware River waterfront entrepreneur Thomas Holt.

Cresmont’s suit also claims that the zoning ordinances kept out affordable housing.

CBD’s lawsuit claims that “Cinnaminson has affirmatively excluded most low- and moderate-income families and larger families from renting and/or owning residential units within the township.”

To allow for affordable housing in Cinnaminson, the township must change the zoning of various areas to permit residential development. The two waterfront sites already allow for that, but David Waronker, president of CBD Development, said other restrictions that prevent the construction of affordable housing prompted him to sue the township.

Of the total number of units in both developments under the original plans, 73 were to be affordable housing.

Even with those complexes, however, the township would be hundreds of units short of its state mandate. Planning Board Chairwoman Nancy Myers said Cinnaminson hoped to reduce the number of required units by receiving credit for existing housing, such as motels along Route 130 where welfare recipients live.

While the township planner and Planning Board, under court supervision, devise an affordable-housing plan, CBD Development is pressing ahead with plans for Harbour Reef. The state Department of Environmental Protection is expected to rule on CBD’s application for a waterfront development permit on Nov. 22, a decision that was postponed from last Thursday. Waronker said that even if the application were denied, he would change his plans for Harbour Reef from 117 townhouses to 178 apartments, with 15 percent to 20 percent to be affordable housing.

“This time there’s no holds barred,” Waronker said. “This time, we’re going to get exactly what we’re entitled to and get this matter behind us already.”

Court Permits Homes In Edgewater Park The Developer Had Sued To Build 77 Units After The Town Neglected To Address Its Affordable-housing Obligation.

By Wendy Ginsberg, INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF

Posted: October 27, 2000

EDGEWATER PARK — An oversight by elected officials that occurred seven years ago has resulted in a recent court decision to allow 77 homes to be built in this 2.5-square-mile community and possibly raise taxes, township officials said.

Last week’s Superior Court decision was a result of a previous Township Committee’s failure to zone for 50 units of affordable housing recommended by the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), an 11-member agency appointed by the governor to help communities devise plans for their affordable-housing obligations.

In 1993, COAH sent a letter to Jay Gill, then the mayor of Edgewater Park, that detailed the obligation to provide 50 units.

But Edgewater Park officials never responded to the letter or made any attempt to change the township’s housing plans.

Committeeman Bob Dovey, who was on the committee at the time,said he never knew about the letter.

“In 1997, it was brought to our attention that we had a COAH obligation. We were shocked,” he said.

Because Edgewater Park did not have a plan to provide affordable housing, CBD Development Inc., the contractor that will build the 77 homes, sued the township for approval to build and won its case last week.

CBD Development will build 53 homes on two parcels behind the Kove catering complex on Route 130. Another 24 homes are planned for a plot behind the Armadillo Steak House off Bridgeboro Road.

“This is not good for Edgewater Park,” Dovey said. “These new homes mean about 40 new students. That’s two new classrooms.”

Dovey said more homes would only increase the tax strain. Currently, for every $1 in tax money the township takes in, $1.15 is spent on municipal services such as trash and leaf collection, he said.

Although the lawsuit filed by Mount Laurel-based CBD Development resulted from the township’s not fulfilling its affordable-housing requirements, the 77 new homes will not be for low- or moderate-income buyers. CBD president David Waronker said the company opted instead to give $20,000 per unit to the township for the 11 affordable homes it was required to build.

The 1983 Mount Laurel II court decision allows municipalities or developers to pay other municipalities to take up to 50 percent of their overall affordable-housing requirement.

Beverly, for example, will receive $1.7 million from Mount Laurel over the next six years to refurbish 85 affordable-housing units in the small riverfront community.

Edgewater Park plans to give the $220,000 to Woodlynne, Camden County, to fulfill its COAH obligation. The township says its remaining obligation of 39 units is already accounted for in the form of existing group homes.

Waronker said he hoped to break ground on the project in March, provided he received the proper permits. The units will be single-family, detached homes with lots at a minimum of 53,000 square feet each. The cost for each, he estimated, will be between $150,000 and $170,000.

In Edgewater Park, the average cost of a home is about $100,000.

According to Dovey, township officials had believed that many of the community’s apartments and condominiums, which amounted to half of its housing, would qualify as affordable, Dovey said. They did not.

Shirley Bishop, COAH’s executive director, said the formula used to determine a township’s COAH obligations takes into account only complexes and homes built from 1980 to the present. Dovey said most of Edgewater Park’s apartments and condominiums were built in the mid-1970s, and an appeal by the township went unheard.

“We don’t know if those units are occupied by low- and moderate-income families,” Bishop said of apartment and condo complexes constructed before 1980. “And there’s no guarantee the housing will always be affordable.”

Dovey and the other committee members then had to scramble to create a master plan that included the 50 affordable-housing units.

Meanwhile, CBD Development had already filed its lawsuit.

“Unfortunately, we were a day late and a dollar short,” Dovey said.

Wendy Ginsberg’s e-mail address is wginsberg@phillynews.com