The second mediation session between the township and the two parties that have filed objections to the township’s third-round affordable housing plan is scheduled for Thursday, August 27.
However, because it is a matter pertaining to litigation, township officials have not been able to discuss it publicly. If mediation does not provide a resolution satisfying the township and its two objectors — the Fair Share Housing Center and InterCap Holdings — Mercer County Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg will take over the issue in September.
In December, council endorsed the housing element and fair share plan needed to address West Windsor’s third-round Council on Affordable Housing obligations, allowing the township to submit its plans to COAH before the December 31 deadline.
The sites in the plan include a 380-unit development planned on the Princeton Theological Seminary land off Wheeler Way; 35 affordable units from a development in the area of Princeton-Hightstown and Old Trenton roads; four or five credits from a group home the Eden Institute proposes to develop on Wood Hollow Drive; and 15 additional affordable units at the Project Freedom site on the Maneely tract off Old Bear Brook Road. Project Freedom is a non-profit organization that develops barrier-free housing to enable disabled individuals to live independently.
The township’s cumulative fair share obligation for the first through third rounds, using COAH projections, is 1,413 — 899 for the first and second rounds; 491 in the third round; and 23 third round rehabilitation share credits. Officials calculated that with units already accounted for in prior plans, together with rental bonus credits carried over from the second round, 1,298 of those units have already been satisfied, leaving 115.
The DiMeglio site, a 14.29-acre tract on Clarksville Road, will produce 114 total units, 91 of which are market-rate and 23 of which are affordable. The township’s obligation will also be met with the help of the Eden Institute, which will be acquiring a single-family home on Wood Hollow Drive to house five adults with autism.
In March the Fair Share Housing Center of Cherry Hill filed an objection with COAH, alleging that the township “has continued its long history of failure to comply with the state constitution’s prohibitions against exclusionary zoning.” The organization describes itself as a non-profit group working to ensure that low and moderate-income people in New Jersey have more choices about where to live
The challenge came less than a month after a filing by InterCap Holdings. In that challenge, InterCap objects to the township’s housing element and fair share plan, which it submitted in December to comply with the new COAH regulations. At the heart of the objection is the contention that West Windsor has understated its affordable housing obligations and that additional affordable housing should be provided for within the plan and West Windsor. It also suggests that the InterCap site would provide a great location for helping the township meet its affordable housing obligations.
COAH reviewed the two objections and determined that the objections were “compliant” with state law, and that the township should submit a response to the objections within 20 days with the township’s designation of representatives, and COAH appointed a mediator.
In May, the council also adopted a resolution that adds the DiMeglio property to the affordable housing plan as a way of strengthening its position. Council has a longstanding agreement with Akselrad for a piece of property on Meadow Road, and there is going to be a swap that would allow for more affordable housing on the DiMeglio site, which would “take away necessity for providing affordable housing in other areas,” officials said.
