Westmont project still facing objections

For years, an ambitious project to redevelop a vacant tract in the heart of downtown Haddon Township has languished while officials fought with advocates over affordable housing.

A recent settlement to a lawsuit filed by the Fair Share Housing Center cleared the way for the $52 million project finally to move forward.

But the controversy over how to develop the seven-acre tract in Westmont for a traditional town center development remains hotly debated.

The matter is expected to come to a head on Monday when the Township Planning Board considers whether to grant final site approval for the project - the last hurdle before construction can begin.

"We've cleared just about every hurdle out there in terms of getting the project built," said township Commissioner John Foley. "We've worked very very hard to get to this point."

The outcome of Monday's decision by the planning board could decide the future of the Camden County enclave that has struggled to remake itself and live up to its potential as a great transit to Center City and model of walkable urbanism, observers say.

At issue are plans for the former site of the Dy-Dee diaper laundry in Haddon's downtown known as Westmont. A large sign on the vacant mostly dirt lot proclaims it as the future site of the Town Center.

Under a proposal as it stands currently, Fieldstone Associates, the township's chosen developer, would get to build 252 housing units - mainly apartments and townhouses, 25 low-income units, seven buildings, perhaps eight storefronts; and 373 on-site garage, or surface lot, parking spaces.

It also calls for 12,500 square feet of retail on Haddon Avenue across from Westmont's PATCO station. But that is only about half of what was originally proposed in 2006 - to the dismay of some residents who believe that additional retail space is crucial to building foot traffic.

"This is prime real estate," said Jack Glazebrook, a member of the South Jersey Urbanists, a group that seeks to improve the region's small cities and towns by encouraging walkability, sustainability, and smarter development. "The town deserves the best possible development to take the town to the next level."

The urbanists have called for design changes, tweaks and other improvements to the plans for the Dy-Dee site. They believe the current proposal is a shortsighted suburban model and not the mixed-use plan that they believe the township needs to be transformed like its neighbor Collingswood which has a busy downtown that attracts pedestrians to its restaurants and shops.

For example, they want Fieldstone to alter the proposed site plan and include changes such as creating a central access road to connect Haddon Avenue directly to the opening of the Highland Avenue parking lot, allowing only retail use to front Haddon Avenue and relocating public space amenities to the center of the site.

Art Corsini, principal for Fieldstone, based in Bridgewater, Somerset County, did not respond to several messages left at his office seeking comment. In an interview with The Inquirer in August, he said: "We think it's going to be a wonderful project. And we're excited to get going on construction later this year or early next year."

The town spent years and thousands of dollars fighting affordable rentals in the community of about 15,000, which delayed the project. It appears reluctant now to reopen a legal can of worms over meeting state mandates to provide housing to low-income workers.

During the negotiations, Fieldstone suggested it could meet its affordable-housing obligations by dropping entirely the retail portion of the town center project on the ground floor.

That plan was scrapped after the commission voted last spring to settle a lawsuit brought by New Jersey's Fair Share Housing Center that charged Haddon Township with failing to provide its share of low-cost housing.

"To go back at this point and redo a lot of those infrastructure changes - I don't see how that would happen," Foley said. "It seems like the time and place for raising these issues has come and gone."

Opponents have no problems with the new development and the affordable rental units to provide more variety in housing. Fieldstone agreed to incorporate 25 units at below-market rents into the development. The township has promised to create an additional 13 units elsewhere.

The urbanists believe Haddon Avenue needs a landscape that has public uses to anchor the sleepy block and draw pedestrian traffic. Over the years, buildings have been replaced by convenience stores fronted by parking lots.

"It's a gigantic opportunity to make a very forward-looking project," said Joseph Russell, who lives in Collingswood and is a member of the Urbanists. "The future should be looked at."

During a sometimes contentious planning board meeting earlier this month that lasted for more than three hours, residents and urban planners expressed their disagreement over the project. The debate lasted into early the next day - too late for the commissioners to vote on the proposal because their bylaws prohibit any action on pending matters after 11 p.m.

Last week, the opponents of the plan launched a Facebook letter-writing campaign in a last-ditch attempt to convince the planning board to change the plan. Russell said he believes that will be an uphill battle because township officials and the developer have grown weary by the delays.

"Everyone just seems to want to just get it done," said Russell.

mburney@phillynews.com

856-779-3814 @mlburney