Members of the Hopewell Borough Planning Board have deemed that the application is complete for a project constructing 13 townhouses on the lumberyard property known as JMAT Supply.
The completeness review was held at the planning board meeting on Feb. 2. This was just to deem the application complete as the public hearing for the redevelopment of the lumberyard is currently planned for April 7.
The applicant will be seeking preliminary and final site plan approval from the Hopewell Borough Planning Board.
“We had actually deemed the application incomplete a year ago. In February, I provided an updated completeness determination letter at the end of October based on revised plans that were submitted,” Borough Planner Joanna Slagle said during the meeting. “Based on the revised information that we received, we felt it was appropriate that the board could deem the application complete.”
In 2018, the Borough Council adopted an ordinance that created the Townhouse Residential Zone on the about 1.15-acre property as part of a redevelopment plan for the lumberyard property that was previously known as the former J.C. Van Doren and Sons lumberyard property.
The applicant for the project is Sawdust Construction, LLC and the redevelopment of the lumberyard at 24 Model Ave. would construct 11 market rate townhomes and two moderate affordable rentals. The townhouses would have garages on the ground floor and 2-and-a-half townhouse spaces above, according to documents.
“This is unusual for the borough. This is our first time dealing with a redevelopment application,” Slagle said.
The redevelopment plan previously adopted by the Borough Council had been worked on since 2015, and created a new zone on the property that allows for the construction of up to 13 townhouses on the lot.
According to a Traffic Impact Statement prepared in 2020, the applicant proposed a full movement driveway along Model Avenue opposite Voorhees Avenue and the existing buildings on the site amounted to 6,037 square feet.
Hopewell Borough Council has not yet executed a redevelopment agreement with the applicant, which designates the applicant as the redeveloper. This follows state redevelopment law and Borough Administrator Michele Hovan said that is in process.
