Commissioners Express Doubts About BOE Plan for Bancroft

Several borough commissioners expressed concerns Monday about the cost of an estimated $24 million school-board plan to purchase and develop the Bancroft property on Kings Highway East.

Commissioner Ed Borden said he thought the school board's two-phase development plan was flawed.

"The idea of spending $17 million, without a learning center and no plan for the east side of the property, is not a good idea," Borden said during a commissioner's work session Monday. "There are serious holes in the plan. It doesn't address affordable housing and ignores construction and legal costs.

"Who thinks, in any universe, the state will have millions of dollars to give to Haddonfield?" Borden asked, when told school officials had discussed finding funds from the state Department of Education for some of the construction.

The school plan is for an initial cost of $17.6 million for acquisition and demolition at Bancroft and the installation of two turf athletic fields. School officials also estimated a public referendum on their plan wouldn't likely occur before next September.

Borden and the two other commissioners, the highest elected officials in the borough, are charged with choosing from among three development plans for the 18.7-acre Bancroft property on Kings Highway East adjacent to the high school. The three options include a public purchase of the entire property, or two mixed-use proposals that would add a turf field and additional parking on the west side of the property from Hopkins Lane and develop housing on the east side. The housing options are either 50 market-rate townhouses and 10 affordable housing units, or 120 age-restricted condo units on the east side and 10 affordable-housing units on the west side.

Borden said market-rate housing and the use of the west side of Hopkins Lane for school development looks like an attractive plan. Some additional athletic fields and open space, including walking trails, are included in all of the development options.

The borough rolled out a cost estimate for a public purchase in September. It estimated a cost of $19.52 million total cost, with $14.27 million to be financed. It also estimated $5.25 million in state and county open-space grants and money from a local open-space tax fund.

Borden said state and county open-space money cannot be attained with the two-phase school plan. He said the two-phase plan doesn't specifically detail when development on the west side of Hopkins Lane will occur and only seeks an initial $17.6 million spending referendum for acquisition of the entire property and development on the west side of it. The school plan also doesn't include an estimated cost of $2 million for the construction of affordable housing, which the developer is obligated to build. A private developer would pay that cost if the land is privately sold.

Commissioner Jeff Kasko said he thought the school board "almost used regionalization as a scare tactic" during a public meeting on Nov. 2 by alluding to the possibility of Hadddonfield's school district being regionalized if facilities are not updated.

Commissioner Tish Colombi, the mayor, said the borough should find a way to work with the school board.

"I admire them for trying to find a way to buy the land," Colombi said. "It seems like we should find a way to work together."

Despite their concerns, Borden and Kasko agreed. The commissioners said they would give the school board until January to respond to their concerns.