I am concerned that bringing more Affordable Housing to Hopewell Township is going to negatively impact our community and bring down property values.

Similar concerns were raised in the 1990s when Brandon Farms was first proposed.  The Brandon Farms community has become a strong vibrant part of Hopewell Township, helping bring in more young families and diversifying our housing stock, including several wonderful age-restricted communities like Four Seasons and Wellington Manor.  Since Brandon Farms was built, home values have increased across Hopewell Township, as families that originally bought homes in Brandon Farms have traded up to larger single-family homes in other parts of Hopewell Valley. 

We are working towards a similar end result with these new developments.  We will have new housing options for our teachers, firefighters and police officers to move into, as well as new, more affordable starter homes for young couples and other professionals working in the Princeton-Hopewell-Lawrence area.  Similarly, there will be new options for older residents whose kids have left the school system and who want to downsize.  We are planning for mixed use, inclusive neighborhoods so that affordable housing is not concentrated in any one area.  Using the control retained via the Settlement and the Redevelopment process, the Township will be very strict with owners of the rental units with how these developments are managed, both in how lower income tenants are certified and how properties are maintained. 

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1. What is an intervenor?
2. What if The Township didn’t enter the litigation?
3. Why did Hopewell Township agree to a negotiated settlement on Affordable Housing?
4. Why do we have to have more housing? We have enough!
5. Who exactly qualifies for Affordable Housing?
6. I heard that there are going to be a lot of market rate houses too. Why?
7. I don’t object to the 653 Affordable Housing units we need to build, but why didn’t Hopewell Township move forward with 100% Affordable Housing across the Township?
8. Why do we need affordable housing? There are plenty of houses in town that haven’t sold.
9. I heard that it’s just going to be house after house after house. Not that there is anything wrong with housing developments, but shouldn’t it be walkable and maybe some ratables?
10. How soon is this going to happen?
11. Do our taxes have to pay for this?
12. Our schools are already filled up! Are we going to have to build a new school, too?
13. Where will the developments be?
14. Why do you have to build in the southern tier? It’s not fair! We have all the development!
15. I am concerned about how all this new development will impact traffic in Hopewell Township. Why wasn’t this considered upfront?
16. Why do we have to build on the field on the west side of Scotch Road?
17. Why did land have to be classified as a Redevelopment Zone?
18. What if Pennytown had been built? Would we still be getting all of this?
19. If we hadn’t spent the Affordable Trust Fund money on Pennytown, couldn’t we could have paid for all of the affordable housing now required without market rates?
20. What about sewers? I live on Pennington-Washington Crossing Road and my septic system is failing. I thought we were promised no high-density housing near us. What is going to be done to help us?
21. I am concerned that bringing more Affordable Housing to Hopewell Township is going to negatively impact our community and bring down property values.
22. How was the public involved in this process? Is this all a done deal?
23. Questions have been raised recently regarding the PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) agreement for the Zaitz Tract behind the Shop Rite. First, is the Zaitz PILOT a good deal for Hopewell Twp taxpayers?
24. Will Hopewell Township taxes go up because of this PILOT?
25. What’s the impact on our schools?