On June 27, the Hopewell Township Committee unanimously endorsed the state-required 4th Round Affordable Housing Plan.
The plan, which was adopted by the Planning Board following its June 26 meeting, meets all legal obligations while eliminating 200 market-rate family homes from the 3rd Round plan.
Like past rounds, the 4th Round affordable housing requirement is a state mandate that municipalities must follow. Hopewell Township, like all municipalities, was given a deadline to submit a plan, which had to be approved by the Planning Board and endorsed by the Township Committee by June 30.
Initially, the state—through the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs—assigned the Township an obligation of 543 units. After formally challenging this number, the township successfully reduced it to 399 units, a reduction of 27%.
“Our top priority has been to limit the impact on our community while meeting our legal obligation,” said Mayor Courtney Peters-Manning. “We used data and careful planning to avoid large-scale development while still following the rules.”
The township says that it was able to get the obligation lowered to 399 by preserving existing affordable housing units that were set to expire, focusing on 100% affordable housing projects, allowing new inclusionary developments only for seniors or assisted living, and using bonus credits, such as those for group homes, to further reduce the number of new units required.
One major change was the removal of a large development previously planned at the former Bristol Myers-Squibb site. That change eliminates 200 market-rate homes from future development. The 50 affordable units that were part of that site will now be included in fully affordable projects—25 units at Pennytown and the remainder at other sites.
Hopewell Parc in Hopewell Township is among a number of housing developments begun in Hopewell in recent years that have affordable housing components.,
