No exit: Woodbury Heights grills developer but can't block affordable apartments

WOODBURY HEIGHTS — A reckoning on the state of affordable housing in the borough is finally here, and affected residents have nothing good to say about it.

Woodbury Heights is bound by an agreement approved in state court to allow a nine-building, 234-unit apartment complex to be built on a formerly industrial property off Chestnut and Academy avenues.

The agreement is specific about allowing only very minor adjustments to the project as now designed.

Thirty-four of those apartments will be affordable units for people and families with low- to moderate-income levels. That number is far short of the borough’s affordable housing goal, but officials here say it is helpful.

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The Planning Board held a four-hour public hearing Monday night on a plan submitted by Greystar Development East LLC, the site developer. The hearing is to resume June 3, with a vote to approve the plan then almost certain.

More traffic, higher school taxes worry residents

Joshua Tomlin and his wife bought a house a year and a half ago on Chestnut Avenue, at the Academy Avenue intersection. They didn’t know a developer had zeroed in on 17½ acres on the other side of that intersection.

Outside the industrial site at 523 Chestnut Avenue, the neighborhood is all single-family homes, tree-lined streets, and the only borough school. Woodbury Heights is only about 1.2 square miles in size.

Tomlin, who missed the hearing, said Tuesday that increased traffic from the apartment complex is his top concern. And his family can’t put a fence along their frontage under borough regulations.

“I’m not going to trust having my kids out playing with all the traffic,” Tomlin said. “And then, the general impact. The schools are already overcrowded. And I don’t think the schools can handle it. And it’s just going to bring the values of our houses down. You know?”

At the May 6 meeting, board Planner Tiffany Morrissey said the property has been interesting to housing developers for almost 20 years. The first proposal, for 300 residential units, led to a lawsuit.

Morrissey said negotiations dropped the size to 234 units. including 34 affordable units. That concept has stayed in effect under the terms of a 2012 lawsuit settlement. even though the original project never happened.

“So, again, this is a unique application for the borough because it is a large application,” Morrisey said. “It is a considerable change to the property that is existing on Academy Avenue."

According to testimony, the apartments are projected to have 61 school-age children. Some residents think that number's on the low side for 234 apartments.

Christopher Rodia, chief administrator for Woodbury Heights Elementary School, expressed concern about the impact on the district. The school, which goes up to sixth grade, already has space and resources issues with its current 255 students.

“As you know, a few years ago, the school built a secure front entrance for approximately $2 million,” Rodia said. “The taxes can only go so high, guys. I’d love to get a copy of the feasibility study that was done showing the impact this is going to have on our school.”

Rodia also said no one from the developer had contacted the district, yet. “That’s very disappointing,” he said.

"The complex will generate more than $1 million annually in property taxes," project attorney Danielle Kinback said in response to an audience member's question. She added she would be happy to give the feasibility study to Rodia.

The biggest quality-of-life issue in the neighborhood until now might be noise and vibration from trains using the Conrail right-of-way.

Tracks run along one side of the industrial property, continuing along Chestnut Avenue out of town.

And plans for a proposed light rail line from Camden to Glassboro suggest putting a railroad maintenance yard on the property.

Chestnut Avenue resident Regina Verna testified her home’s plaster walls crumbled from vibration and she had to put up paneling. She told representatives of the developer what their tenants will discover.

“There’s a couple trains that love to blow their horn all the way from Woodbury to Wenonah,” Verna said. “I think they’re going to feel like ‘(My) Cousin Vinnie.’”

“I’d rather have the (railroad) maintenance yard than the low-income housing,” Tomlin said.

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye nowon government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Woodbury Heights sees costs, risks, with affordable housing