Glenlora Affordable Housing Development Closer To Becoming A Reality In Chester Township

CHESTER, NJ — What has been called “solid progress” in moving forward on its affordable housing obligations, Chester’s Township Council voted unanimously on its next steps at the council’s most recent meeting.

As a council, Chester Township decided on the Planning Board putting together a request for proposal next for the former Glenlora nursing home site on Route 24, with the following criteria:

• Housing should be in the 100 percent "affordable" category
• It will be solely designated for special needs individuals, potentially for adults with developmental disabilities
• With historical architecture from the 1870s, that should be a part of the development’s plans
• It should be earmarked “redevelopment,” to provide flexibility in choosing the project’s developer
• Ideally, it should be consistent with the township’s current zoning

In her recent newsletter, Chester Township Mayor Marcia Asdal explained that Chester Township concluded litigation with Fair Share Housing in 2018, which “brought the discussion about what to do with the Glenlora site out from closed sessions to the public arena where it belongs,” she said.

Asdal said that governing bodies in surrounding communities ended up settling in court on the constitutional mandates for affordable housing, while Chester Township not only lessened its legal costs, but enabled residents to take part in brainstorming about the project.

“This will make for a better, more collaborative long-term solution,” Councilman Mike Inganamort wrote in a social media post to the public about the discussion that had taken place at the Sept. 21 meeting.

Asdal said it was her hope that the meeting this past Tuesday would “give us a solid foundation upon which to confidently move forward,” she wrote.

Asdal provided a report to residents of visits taken on Aug. 12 to “100 percent affordable housing sites,” that the United Way of Bergen County developed and oversees. As part of the tour, Asdal, Inganamort and Planning Board members Tom Cruse and Peter Maddi, visited several sites with Director Tom Toronto of the United Way of Bergen County.

Unit sizes of the developments ranged from 13 to 63, with some housing for seniors and adults with developmental disabilities; some for adults or families with developmental disabilities; and one solely for adults with developmental disabilities.

Two sites that they toured in Mahwah and Florham Park, had facilities for developmentally-disabled adults, some needing more intensive care with caregivers on-site and others with more independent-living arrangements.

“The purpose of this tour was to provide a visual reference for the potential design of an affordable housing development on the Glenlora property,” the report indicated.

During the tour, though it was ascertained the footprints of these locations differ from Glenlora, the township representatives were able to evaluate the designs, construction quality, project management and how the United Way has maintained the properties.

Chester Township’s Glenlora will require a developer able to work in a rural setting, with well and septic a part of the development, as well as including the historic building on Glenlora’s existing property, into any proposed design, according to the report.

Some of the other steps involved in the process include: meeting with the Highlands Council to ensure it fits with the Regional Master Plan, evaluating the well and septic capacities at Glenlora and collaborating with the township’s planner on the “bulk and design criteria.” That would include: the number of units, impervious coverage, height limitations, setbacks, buffers and design criteria.

The tentative schedule of upcoming steps in the decision-making process for Glenlora includes:

• Oct. 4 - the Planning/Zoning Board making recommendations
• Oct. 18 - the RFP issued
• Jan. 17, 2022 - the developer chosen

Click here to view the full report about the affordable housing tour and next steps for Glenlora.

Read more here about Glenlora from the Chester Historical Society.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.