East Windsor Development Approved to Remove Age-restricted Housing

The East Windsor planning board recently approved a conversion application, allowing the former age-restricted housing development under construction on Wyckoffs Mill and Probasco roads to be open to any ages.

The developer, Toll Brothers, submitted the conversion application to the planning board, which was approved.

“In this particular situation we felt, at this time, that the community would best serve as a market-rate community,” said Chris Gaffney, group president at Toll Brothers.

In 2009 legislation was passed that “permits conversion of age-restricted housing units to non-age-restricted housing units and modifies laws concerning affordable housing.” At the time, Mayor Janice Mironov was outspoken against the legislation saying it was taking control away from municipalities.

In a column Mironov co-authored that appeared on NJ.com when the legislation was proposed, it said, “Under the proposed scheme, a developer can seek an "as of right" application to a municipal planning board to convert an approved age-restricted development into a market-rate family housing project, provided he complies with the minimal procedures in the bill.”

Gaffney said location, size of the community and market conditions are some of the factors considered when deciding if plans should be age-restricted or not, and plans call for 209 single-family homes to be built. Twenty percent of the community, or forty-two of the total homes, will be used for affordable housing, Gaffney said.

“Once we begin construction, all qualified applicants will go through an affordable housing group or committee that will be approved by East Windsor,” he said.

Toll Brothers said they do not yet know when the development, currently known as Regency Woods at East Windsor, will be completed. The name is subject to change as the project moves forward, Gaffney said.