Plainsboro Township Committee has rezoned a vacant parcel at 50 Dey Road, between the Wyndhurst complex and the Meadows at Middlesex Golf Course, to allow for a 100-unit municipally sponsored affordable housing development.
The committee rezoned the 30.7-acre parcel at its Oct. 13 meeting to comply with Plainsboro’s affordable housing settlement, and the rezoned parcel will satisfy a significant portion of the township’s 638 unit obligation.
Also contributing to the fulfillment of the obligation are credits from existing affordable units, “buydown programs” converting market rate condos to affordable units, and “inclusionary” private developments with an affordable component.
No other property in the zoning district is affected by the ordinance amendment, which allows a maximum density of 3.5 units per acre for the 30.7-acre parcel, or around 105 units total. Building heights are limited to 35 feet and residential structures cannot exceed 10 units per acre.
Planning and zoning director Les Varga said the township’s affordable housing plan still awaits a final judgment by Judge Douglas K. Wolfson. There was a compliance hearing on Oct. 20 at the Middlesex County Superior Court and another hearing is scheduled for December.
Last June, the township settled litigation brought by the Fair Share Housing Center, the Cherry-Hill-based nonprofit suing municipalities across the state. Fair Share Housing Center initiated litigation last year after a state Supreme Court ruling shifted affordable housing jurisdiction from the state Council on Affordable Housing to county judiciaries.
The state constitution and numerous court decisions mandate that towns provide their fair share of low- and moderate-income housing. Before the township’s 638-unit settlement, FSHC had argued that the township should provide 1,063 affordable units.
In the settlement, a municipally sponsored, 100-affordable-rental-unit development is planned for the rezoned Dey Road parcel. The township could partner with the Plainsboro Non-profit Housing Corporation, which is how the nearby 124-unit Wyndhurst affordable housing development was built.
“Years ago we created a nonprofit to facilitate the building of Wyndhurst,” said Mayor Pete Cantu. “In all likelihood we’d be working with the nonprofit, possibly with others. Some of this is dependent on federal tax credits disbursed through the state.”
Cantu anticipates the project would take place in two or more phases and the township is expected to apply for tax credits in 2017. He declined to comment when asked for an estimate of the amount of tax credits being sought.
