A resident addresses Lumberton Township officials and representatives of homebuilder D.R. Horton at a community meeting on development plans on Thursday. The large development, which includes part of Lumberton's affordable housing obligation, is on the screen.
A massive 857-unit townhouse and apartment development in Lumberton that would increase the number of homes in town by 17% was presented as a fait accompli on Thursday evening by lawyers representing the Township and the homebuilder.
The "Lumberton Village" development on 411 acres at Eayrestown and Newbolds Corner roads is part of Lumberton's affordable housing plan with units in the D.R. Horton project helping to fulfill the commitment for lower-cost housing.
"I understand where a lot of you are coming from," the Township's affordable housing lawyer, Michael Herbert, of the Parker McCay firm, told residents who showed up to the informational session at Bobby's Run School.
Herbert said the property has been part of the Township's affordable housing plan for many years. "We're stuck. We're under court order. We have to proceed," he said.
Residents questioned the panel about the project with traffic and other concerns. Herbert said he understands other issues are the impact on schools and stormwater drainage.
Many municipalities across New Jersey have struggled this year with the latest round of affordable housing plans required by the courts under the Mount Laurel Doctrine. Some propose to repurpose commercial buildings or demolish them to make way for residences.
Lumberton Village will have 506 market-rate townhouses, 179 senior citizen townhouses, 92 affordable family apartments and 80 age-restricted affordable apartments.
Lumberton, north of Route 70 in Burlington County, has an estimated 12,882 residents, according to U.S. Census American Community Survey data. The new homes would increase the town's housing unit inventory of 5,036 by 17%.
A traffic light will be installed at one of the development's two entrances on Eayrestown Road. D.H. Horton's traffic consultant, Shropshire Associates LLC of Atco, projects that the residential development will generate 449 trips during the weekday morning peak hour and 435 trips during the afternoon peak hour.
The project, which has yet to go before the Township Land Development Board, would likely be built in three phases. The street address is 692 Eayrestown Road.
"We know that you don't want the project. Nobody ever does," said lawyer Stuart A. Platt, of the Platt Law Group in Stratford, representing D.R. Horton.
The 411 acres in the yellow border would hold 857 townhouses and apartments under the plan. Eayrestown Road runs along the left side of the property and Newbolds Corner Road on the lower left.Â
