Planners approve senior housing proposal

The plans were approved at a special hearing Thursday.

By: Lea Kahn
   A proposed 117-unit affordable senior citizen apartment complex was unanimously approved Thursday by the Planning Board.
   Bramblewood Senior Apartments will be located on an 8.4-acre parcel on East Darrah Lane, opposite the Lawrence Branch of the Mercer County Library System and the Lawrence Senior Center.
Brisben Development Inc. presented a tweaked version of the plan to the Planning Board at a special public hearing.
   The building, part of which will be three stories and part of which will be four stories, has been relocated about 75 feet from its original spot on plans for the site, said Municipal Engineer Christopher Budzinski. The building had been moved away from wetlands as part of the tweaked plan.
   Plans call for 17 one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartments and 100 two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments. The rents have not been finalized, but they will be within state Council on Affordable Housing guidelines for low- and moderate-income households.