Expansion of Cherry Hill condominium complex hits a snag over location of affordable housing units.

Concerns about isolating affordable housing units in the expansion plans for the Centura Condominiums in Cherry Hill dominated the Planning Board meeting on Monday night.

The Browning Lane complex would grow by 88%, to 292 total units from the existing 155, according to plans by owners Devel LLC of Voorhees and EIL Investments LP of West Berlin. A total of 32 affordable-housing units would be included in the 137 new units and sold, not rented.

Board members spent much of the meeting questioning the developer about the location of the affordable units. Township law states that, ideally, affordable units should be dispersed in a development to avoid separating affordable units from market-rate units.

Expansion plans from the developer show 10 units of affordable housing standing alone and away from the market-rate units. Eight other units are together but attached to the end of one group of market-rate units.

Board Chair John Osorio said the developer's plans show the affordable units are grouped together. He said the developer should come up with a new plan that meets the requirement of not isolating affordable housing.

"We still have the affordable housing issue unresolved," Township Community Development Director Cosmas Diamantis said late in the meeting. Board members decided to continue the testimony, including public comment, to the December 5 meeting.

Board solicitor Sandy Zeller said the goal of the housing ordinance is to avoid clustering affordable units, which might get a stigma attached to them.

"The goal has always been to integrate the units so that they're not readily identifiable from the outside," Zeller said. "Somebody driving by and saying 'Oh, those are the affordable units.' "

The developer's representatives also told the board the plan calls for removing 647 trees of five inches or more in diameter. However, a further sample of the property may show a larger number to be removed, they said.

A total of 533 replacement trees are proposed. If the shortfall in replacements cannot be planted on the property, the Township's new tree law requires a payment into the Township tree fund of $300 for each tree that goes unreplaced.

The development, bordering the Woodcrest Shopping Center on Haddonfield-Berlin Road, originated in 1975 with the construction of 72 units. Construction company JPOrleans would build the new units.

Approvals for the expansion were granted to the developer by the board in 2018 and 2019 but, since then, the lengths of the condos have increased, driveways have been widened and two-car garages and decks have been added.