Nation's "Top Town" Debates Its Affordable Housing Mandates: NIMBY in Moorestown?

NIMBY: For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term, the acronym means "Not In My Back Yard". It's a term generally used for those in residential neighborhoods of pretty much any race/class/economic state who are violently opposed to a mandated imposition of a site that they deem harmful to their neighborhood. "Harmful" can include social, economic or violent repercussions should, for instance, a registered sex offender, a low to moderate rental housing unit, group home for the mentally challenged, dump site for questionable types of waste; the list goes on.

In 2005, the lovely, historically blessed town of Moorestown, New Jersey was selected by Forbes Magazine as its top pick for the "Top Town in America". The criteria used in the selection of this quiet town, with a population of 20,000, included a great school system, proximity to major cities, shopping, recreational activities, and a sense of social activism and community service. (Moorestown was founded over two centuries ago by Quakers, and still retains a very distinctive Quaker mentality.) There remains a high sense of community service and activism, both by the Quaker families who have lived in the town for generations, and for those who are not Quakers but have also lived in the town for decades. (You're really not considered a "native" Moorestonian unless your parents were born here. It's actually much more preferable if your grandparents were born here as well, but your parents will do.) So strongly imbued is this sense of "belonging" in town is the use of the phrase "Toll Towners", a reference to residents who have recently moved into the town into one of several Toll Brothers planned communities. ("Recently" can include ten or twelve years ago, when these communities - much to the dismay of many residents - were originally built.)

New Jersey is a funny, odd state in which to live. Taxes are extremely high, the services in return questionable, except for a pocket of areas - Moorestown among them - that have excellent school districts. Under Democratic Governor Jon Corzine, the State has been frantically trying to address mandated low to moderate affordable housing plans for every municipality. This process has been going on for over twenty years; current plans were due on 12/31/08, even though the state law - and number of units required for each town as a result - were changed as recently as October, 2008. The criteria is based on the number of jobs - new and old - present within a town. The idea is, supposedly, to provide affordable housing within each town for the folks who service the residents of that town. Another initiative is to make quality education possible for more citizens by opening up affordable housing - i.e., rental units - in a town in which those citizens would not be able to afford to purchase a home. Moorestown's paid affordable housing consultant has stated that those who would occupy its 412 mandated units would include retail sales clerks, nursing home aides, preschool teachers, (actually, pretty much all teachers), "landscapers" and those who do the manual work for landscaping companies, including cutting grass and shoveling snow. You could follow the theory: If Sharon Jones works as a special needs aide in the Moorestown school district, but only makes $9.50 an hour, there's no way that she could afford to purchase a home in town on her own (or, most likely, even with a combined income). The average home price in Moorestown is in the mid $400,000 range. By opening up rental units, Sharon and her husband/children/parents could actually live within the town where she works by paying rent for a "low to moderate income" apartment.

Over twenty years ago, as part of its Master Plan, Moorestown's town council purchased and identified several tracts of land designated solely for use as sites for affordable housing. One is the Nagel tract; it is adjacent to the high-end Laurel Creek Country Club community. The other is a ten plus acre tract known as the Mayberry tract, which is literally smack dab in the middle of another relatively high-end residential community, Wexford.

The Wexford community is approximately ten years old. Residents were made aware of the presence of the Mayberry tract when they chose to purchase their homes, as was required by the builder, Orleans Corporation. According to residents who spoke up at a number of town council meetings and Planning Board meetings, they were told - verbally - both by Orleans and by town "administrators" that the Mayberry tract would, could never actually BE used for affordable housing, as it had "wetlands" problems. Apparently, some of these residents should really have used an attorney before signing the deeds to their home. You really can't rely on "word of mouth" verbal statements from a builder - who had years ago finished the development - or from "administrators" at town hall that the Mayberry tract would blisssfully remain undeveloped. Talk is cheap. Ten acres shown on a town's Master Plan, AND on your own plat attached to your own property's deed, as "low and moderate housing designated" pretty much means exactly that.

When the October, 2008 state ruling changed the number of units that Moorestown would be required to provide, the trigger pulled on the Mayberry tract. Its official plan, as was to be submitted to the State by December 31, 2008, the township stated that the Mayberry tract would be built out as the site of a 40-unit rental complex for low to moderate income potential residents.

When the proposed Moorestown Affordable Housing Plan was made public, the fur began to fly.

Residents of the Wexford/Windemere and Westfield communites packed the town council meeting in early December, the meeting at which was Plan was supposedly to receive approval from town council and thus move on to its submittal to the State. The meeting was long (nearly three hours) and contentious. Those of us who were present could practically see the steam rising from both the residents, who were both visibly and vocally extremely upset, and those who backed the plan (a relative minority, to be honest). Councilman Jonathan Eron, a Democrat who had lost his council seat in the November election to the Republican slate, had been a member of the Planning Board committee which had drawn up the proposed Plan, and was its most strident supporter. (One of the pleas from the residents was that an outgoing council - three of the four Democrats sitting on council at that time were due to leave office within three weeks - should not have the final say in a plan that would both affect residents and should, in their view, be tackled by the new, incoming council members. The deadline for filing the Moorestown plan, however, prevented new council from taking any action on it.)

Councilman Dan Roccato, the lone Republican on the lameduck council, agreed with the Wexford residents, and proposed sending the Plan back to the Planning Board in a literal last-minute attempt to mollify the group by removing the Mayberry tract's specific designation as the first tract to be built out. Somewhat surprisingly, Roccato was backed by Democrats Ann Segal and then-Mayor Kevin Aberant, much to the dismay of Eron. The Affordable Housing Plan was scheduled for an emergency session on December 29th, 2008, with an emergency council meeting scheduled for December 30th in order to pass what was hoped to be a revised plan.

What transpired at the Planning Board meeting depended upon your personal point of view regarding not just the specific Moorestown low and moderate affordable housing plan, but the idea of having low-income housing within the township at all. This is not something that is new: Very few of us would readily admit to welcoming a rental apartment building within spitting distance of our home, especially if that home cost half a million dollars - or $125,000, for that matter. Change is hard. Change is difficult. In a township in which residents appear to have considerable disposable income, paving the way for those who have significantly less is not the most popular of concepts. Again, bear in mind that this is a town literally founded on Quaker principles of justice and equality. At one council meeting, the lone resident who spoke out in favor of the Affordable Housing Plan was an elderly Quaker resident, known throughout the town for her activism, community service and literally living the principals of the Friends. The woman spoke of having worked with youngsters currently living in low-income housing. She noted that several families had sons serving in the military, in the war in Iraq. She made reference to the fact that residents are more than happy to them them serve our country in our military; why not give them the opportunity to better themselves by living here as well? "This is the land of opportunity. We should keep the doors open whether they have money now or don't." Her statements, delivered in a firm, unwavering voice, drew little applause.

To cut to the proverbial chase: By a vote of 6-1 (with Eron being the lone dissenting vote), the town's Planning Board did approve the changes requested by the Wexford residents, making both the Mayberry and Nagel tract "on equal footing" as far as use for building affordable housing units. While the residents felt that they had won a small - very small - victory, they have formed a group known as the "Concerned Citizens", and have hired an attorney, as well as environmental experts who will provide testimony, to prove to both council and the State of New Jersey that the Mayberry tract is environmentally unsound. The Plan was approved by Council - again, with Eron angrily casting the only dissenting vote - and sent off to Trenton to meet a deadline that was literally less then twelve hours away.

For the most part, these "Concerned Citizens" appear to be intelligent, financially sound and savvy residents who are able to afford the expense of hiring an attorney and those who will testify as to their concerns. But the question remains: They knew that this ten acre tract had been zoned for low and affordable housing when they purchased their homes. No one held a gun to their heads to sign off on their deeds. Just how "intelligent" was it to purchase a $500,000 plus home knowing that right smack dab in the middle of their new community was a large plot of land set aside for affordable housing? It would appear that they made a roll of the dice, and, at least to some degree, lost.