The Westwood Golf Club in West Deptford is still challenging golfers daily, but plans are in process to change the zoning for the property ahead of what could be a future construction effort to build up to a 650-unit housing development on the property.
According to Township documents, the rezoning will include a change to the Westwood Golf Club property to be an Affordable Housing Inclusionary District, with 5 1/2 dwelling units per acre supporting mixed-use housing (townhomes, multifamily, and single family homes).
West Deptford Township states the effort will assist the Township in addressing its Mount Laurel Fair Share Housing obligations.
The maximum yield for the Golf Course property would be changed to 650-units total with 20% set aside for affordable housing (130-units). Goals with the ordinance include preserving open space, providing a wide variety of housing types and to promote and encourage attractive residential neighborhoods.
After a several step process this year, the Ordinance is scheduled for second reading and final passage at the next Township Committee meeting on August 21st at 6:00pm.
At this time I do not have a site plan for a proposed project (if it exists at this time).
The Westwood Golf Club is a currently operating public golf course in West Deptford on Kings Highway and Jessup Road.
Opened in 1961, the 18-hole course includes a 2-story clubhouse building (bar/restaurant and banquet area on the 2nd floor).
This is still very early in the project approval stages and any actual development is likely farther in the future… so please continue to golf and dine at Westwood Golf Club!
Westwood Residential Development
Back in May of this year, the West Deptford Township committee introduced and passed the first reading of Ordinance 2024-10, which covers the zoning change of the Westwood property. This was just an initial step and not the final approval.
The ordinance was then sent to the West Deptford Planning Board, whose task was to verify that the change met the requirements of the Township’s Master Plan. In June they did approve that aspect of the proposed ordinance.
Now on August 21st at the regularly scheduled Westford Township Committee Meeting, the ordinance will be considered for a second reading and final passage.
This is not the actual project development approval, and is focused on the zoning change… That being said, the town’s affirmation of the zoning changes is basically leaning them towards an eventual approval of a residential project for the property.
Earlier this month at the July Township committee meeting it was expected that the second reading of the Ordinance would take place that day (making it official), but at the meeting it was announced the Westwood aspects of the agenda were postponed to the August meeting date, due to a minor issue with proper notifications.
I was able to attend that July meeting via the “Zoom” livestream that West Deptford still offers. A big “Kudos” to West Deptford for being one of the few towns to still continue the practice which likely started during the pandemic.
Even with the Westwood agenda item moved to August, some important commentary did take place in the July meeting.
A significant number of residents did attend the meeting (not realizing early on that the Ordinance discussion was postponed) and during the public speaking session, residents took the opportunity to express that they did not see a need for the housing in an already overcrowded West Deptford Township and School System.
So the lead speaker in the Committee (who I assume was the Mayor) spoke a bit about the Ordinance and project… but really the commentary was focused on… West Deptford’s “hands are tied” to stop the residential development of the golf course, and their goal currently is to keep the number of homes and density at a reasonable level.
While clearly the golf course should be considered a commercial use it is actually zoned as R-6, which looking at Township ordinances means it is zoned for Residential Developments, but for large lots of two acres per single family home. Likely the key aspect is that the golf course is already zoned “residential”.
Additionally, all communities in New Jersey are under strict requirements to ensure that the town’s zoning provides a realistic opportunity for the construction of each township’s fair share of affordable housing.
Widely known as “the Mount Laurel Doctrine”, affordable housing advocates succeeded in proving that a town cannot create residential zoning that only targets higher income homes (such as large multi-acre single home lots).
The fair share housing process goes back to 1975 with a New Jersey Supreme Court case which started the process to establish affordable housing requirements per town, and over the subsequent decades has been further refined.
At a high-level, for each town a process is overseen by a Special Master who negotiates with the parties (municipality, fair share housing center and typically developers) to reach a settlement agreement that accounts for the Town providing opportunities for affordable housing development.
A report of the negotiated plan is presented to a judge, and the judge in honoring the affordable housing requirements can order an updated housing element and fair share plan… that the town must agree to!
So not to dive too deeply into what was being said in the July meeting, but simply the requirements of West Deptford to develop affordable housing are governed by guidelines, negotiated to meet those fair share guidelines, and backed up by a judge in the court system.
So it mostly doesn’t matter that the golf course property is currently defined as “two acres per home lot”… that’s exactly the type of zoning that fair share housing was defined to fight against, and a judge would likely determine that higher-density zoning should be put in place for the property instead.
In the meeting it was stated there is a concern of the Township that if the town fought back, not only would they likely lose… they could be required to allow the development of even more dense residential properties within the golf course property!
So what West Deptford is hoping for now is a compromise development of a multi-use 650-unit (max) residential development.
To be clear this fair housing requirement impacts every single town in New Jersey.
As an example, last year I sat in a Washington Township board meeting where two residential projects were being proposed for approval and residents were angry about the projects saying they weren’t needed. A board member addressing a very angry resident, very honestly explained that there was absolutely nothing Washington Township could do to deny the projects. They had originally declined one of the project which then moved into the court systems… the outcome was a negotiated plan for a less dense development.
For a few years now I’ve been meaning to write an article focused on this whole process but I do need to do more research so this is a very high-level overview.
So what is solidly known is that a zoning change is in process for the Westwood Gold Property to allow up to a 650-unit residential development (with 130 affordable units). This ordinance will be reviewed at the August Township meeting. I am not clear if that will include a full project review (to help support the zoning change decision)
Links and Location
West Deptford Township Committee Ordinance Review
August 21st, 2024 at 6:00pm
West Deptford Main Meeting Room
400 Crown Point Road
West Deptford, NJ 08086