Haddon Twp. Commission Approves Settlement for Housing Project

The three-member Haddon Township Commission approved a settlement for affordable housing units in an 82-unit apartment complex near Haddon Avenue during a special meeting Monday afternoon, the Courier-Post reports.

The proposed Rose Hill Estates complex would include eight affordable housing units, according to the report, with four more units added throughout the township over the next five years.

Following that approval, the Planning Board approved a change to allow housing units for low- and moderate-income families, according to the report.

The township needed to approve the settlement prior to a court hearing in which a Camden judge will be asked to approve the settlement and end a lawsuit filed against the township by Fair Share Housing Center, the Courier-Post reported.

Fair Share Housing Center is an advocacy group based in Cherry Hill. It is devoted to fighting for the housing rights of the poor, and was established in 1975, according to its website.

Fair Share's lawsuit alleges the township doesn’t meet its fair share of affordable housing as mandated by the state. It was filed last year in an effort to block approval of the complex.

That hearing was scheduled for Tuesday.

Teague told the Courier-Post he hopes construction on the Rose Hill Estates project can begin by the fall. It would be constructed on 3.3 acres that was purchased by the township and designated as a redevelopment zone in 2009.

The township is eligible to collect a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) in the amount of no less than $125,000, according to the report.

The Rose Hill Estates Project is part of a downtown redevelopment effort that includes the renovation of the Westmont Theater into a commercial and retail building. Constructed in 1927 and closed in 1986, the Westmont Theater has been designated a national historic landmark.

Earlier this year, nearly 200 residents confronted Mayor Randy Teague concerning a proposed 52-unit affordable housing complex on the Black Horse Pike in the West Collingswood Extension.

Following that meeting, the project was called off, although Teague has called for a redevelopment zone at the Black Horse Pike Auto Complex, which is in foreclosure, as a way to influence what comes next in that location.