Springfield Township continues to discuss changing the minimum lot sizes from 3 to 10 acres.
By: Scott Morgan
SPRINGFIELD Cooler heads and an openness to new options defined last week’s discussion concerning a plan to change minimum lot sizes in the township.
In a low-key follow-up to a heated Planning Board meeting the night before, the Township Council discussed on June 8 the next step in the township’s plan to address minimum acreage, development and Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) regulations.
The Planning Board had met the evening prior to consider the efficacy of downzoning, changing minimum lot sizes from 3 to 10 acres. While the board decided the action would indeed fit with the township’s Master Plan, the board also decided it needed more time to consider whether the plan viewed as damaging to land values by dozens of township farmers and large-lot owners was really a good idea.
On June 8, the Township Council granted the Planning Board more time to consider options. The council removed the ordinance from its agenda and, according to Councilman Richard Toone, who also sits on the Planning Board, explained why the township is so interested in putting the brakes on development through changes in the zoning laws.
COAH regulations would require one affordable housing unit for every eight single-family houses built. Under 3-acre zoning, a single-family house could be built on each 3 acres of property, or 33 units for every 100 acres. Such an event would require four affordable units at a price to the township of roughly $35,000 each.
If the township enacts 10-acre zoning, there can only be one new house built on every 10 acres, translating into 10 units per 100 acres and, thereby, one affordable housing unit.
The council’s explanation seemed to be well-received, said Mr. Toone, who said the council and Planning Board are looking to get ahead of the next round of COAH regulations, which already are starting to dictate what the township would need to do by 2014.
While he added that "nothing is cast in concrete by COAH" as to the 2014 regulations, Mr. Toone said township officials want to get a jump on the issue in order to stave off costly problems, such as builder’s remedy lawsuits like the ones that are sapping local dollars from Mansfield. Builder’s remedy, in essence, refers to lawsuits filed by developers for the rights to build affordable units.
The Planning Board and representatives from Trenton-based planner Carl Hintz will study the situation through the summer, Mr. Toone said, and will likely devise a modified plan to present to the Township Council later this year.