Units will be permitted as conditional use
By:Vanessa S. Holt
FLORENCE An ordinance allowing as many as 500 new senior housing units to be built in the township received approval from the Township Council on Sept. 19.
The units will be permitted as a conditional use within the township’s low-density residential district and agricultural district. Lots will have a minimum size of 7,500 square feet with no more than four housing units per acre.
Permanent residents must be 55 years of age or older with a maximum of one child age 18 or older.
Senior citizen housing has been cited by both residents and council members as a way to help reduce taxes in the township without placing a burden on the school system, said Thomas Sahol, assistant township business administrator.
The ordinance allows for a senior residential area with higher densities as a use in the designated zones. Otherwise, substantial variances would be required for a senior development, said Mr. Sahol.
According to the ordinance, development must be located near existing residential developments and will be served by public sewer and water utilities.
Developers will be required to preserve land in the agricultural district in exchange for double density in the senior housing area.
Several residents have expressed concern over the possible effects of increased traffic in residential areas, said Mr. Sahol, adding that prospective developers will be required to provide traffic study information to the Planning Board.
The development firm Group Ten Builders, which proposed a senior development with about 250 units on the 100-acre Wainwright property earlier this year, may come before the Planning Board next month to seek preliminary site-plan approval, said Mr. Sahol.

