Allegro senior living development gets new date before Mount Laurel zoning board.

A proposal to build 170 units for senior living on South Church Street in Mount Laurel will again be before the Township Zoning Board of Adjustment on March 30, according to a legal notice.

The Allegro Development Company Inc. request is scheduled to be heard by the board at 7 p.m. in the Mount Laurel Municipal Center, 100 N. Mount Laurel Road. The large complex is not a permitted use in the R-3 zone, which allows only single-family dwellings. The maximum building height is 2.5 stories, or 35 feet, and Allegro wants permission to build 4 stories, or 48 feet.

Plans for 170 units include: 96 for independent living, 53 for assisted living and 21 for memory care on the 25.5-acre parcel.

Allegro's plan was before the board twice already. On February 5, company representatives presented the plan and then members of the public testified, largely against permitting the zoning variances. The meeting was adjourned at 11 p.m. and continued to March 4.

The public continued to testify at the March 4 meeting, but a sticking point emerged. Alison Keating, who lives in the Birchfield development near the property, produced documents from the state Department of Environmental Protection that she said showed no pollution at the site near 1017 S. Church St.

Allegro representatives had testified pollution from a former agricultural use was found at the site and it would need to be remediated.

The board said the pollution question needs to be resolved before a decision is made. 

•  MORE: Polluted or not? Allegro zoning proposal in Mount Laurel halted temporarily over conflicting testimony.

• MORE: Mount Laurel neighbors tell zoning board they don't want 170-unit senior complex in their backyard.

• MORE: Allegro proposes to build senior living facility on South Church Street; it would be the second in NJ for the company.