Sixty-unit affordable housing project on Sheppard Road in Voorhees to Planning Board at August 13 meeting.

Updated on July 22: Voorhees Township told 70and73.com that the Planning Board meeting for July 23 has been cancelled and this application now is on the agenda for the August 13 meeting.

A plan to build three townhouse buildings with a total of 60 affordable housing units on heavily wooded land off Centennial Boulevard in Voorhees goes before the Planning Board on August 13.

Applicant Sheppard Road LLC of Voorhees, part of Camden-based The Michaels Organization, seeks preliminary and final major site plan approvals for the 10 one-bedroom, 35 two-bedroom and 15 three-bedroom units on 3.31 acres at 3 Sheppard Road. Plans also call for a 132-spot parking lot.

The property is owned by Voorhees Township and formerly was owned by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 10116 of Voorhees.

"With the exception of the existing basketball court(s) and parking areas, the site is completely wooded," according to a review letter for the Planning Board from C. Jeremy Noll, the board's engineer from Environmental Resolutions Inc. of Mount Laurel. Noll called for a tree-removal plan from the developer.

Commenting on a traffic-impact study for the project, Noll said in his letter: "The trip generation for 60 units yielding only 24 a.m. and 31 p.m. peak trips may be underestimated, particularly if the development targets workforce or commuter-heavy populations."

Besides calling for tree replacements, Noll also told the developer other current features of the site should be maintained or built elsewhere.

"There appears to be an existing path with a bench that runs through the western corner of the property. Our office recommends maintaining the path by installing an alternate route," he wrote.

The two basketball courts also should not just disappear, according to Noll. "The applicant should either redesign the site to keep the courts in place or provide funds to the Township to build the courts at an alternate location, such as Connolly Park."