Glassboro passes on rental housing idea, Rowan students role an issue
GLASSBORO — Real estate investor and landlord Bryan Levens had an idea to add to a portfolio of his rental properties here: Take one single-family housing lot on Villanova Road, turn it into three smaller lots, and build two more homes.
But the borough Planning Board unanimously rejected the proposal at its May 7 meeting. The board heard critical testimony from Chestnut Ridge homeowners who projected traffic and safety issues if approved.
The homes all would be rental properties. Those are in high demand here with the expansion in recent years of nearby Rowan University.
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After a public hearing, including testimony from upset neighbors, board members voted not to approve a property subdivision.
Glassboro proposal runs into lot-width problem
Ken Short, a 24-year Villanova Road resident, called the idea a “money grab” at the expense of a “great neighborhood.”
Students "deserve a place to live," said Short. "Just not in my neighborhood.”
The borough building code requires residential properties to have 75 feet of width. To move forward, this project needed board approval to revert to an old zoning standard of 50 feet of width per lot.
Joseph Mancini, the engineer and planner for the project, said the neighborhood has numerous homes on 50-foot-wide lots as well as newer ones on the wider lots. The board engineer agreed with that claim.
“Despite the deviations of the lot width, each of these (Villanova Road) lots still exceeds the minimum lot area for the zone,” Mancini added. “So, we’re required to have 7,500 square feet for each lot. Each of these lots is going to be 8,000 square feet.”
The board had limited success getting Levens to acknowledge Rowan students would be probable tenants.
Levens said students rent some of his other Glassboro properties, and that the new homes would be open to them. But, he added, his properties are available to anyone.
Area homeowners had no qualms linking the idea to college students, or pointing out traffic and other problems they say are spreading as rental properties proliferate here.
Another homeowner, Bob Steiert, said the project would violate every rule the borough has adopted to control unhealthy development.
“What we all know, the people who live out there in the Ridge, know that these houses are occupied by as many people as they can get into,” Steiert said. “I’ve worked on some of the houses and found bedrooms in closets.”
Steiert disputed Levens's claim the project would be good for the community.
“I can’t see it, at all,” Steiert said. “Public safety being the number one issue. Trash trucks avoiding parking on both sides of the street. You know, kids that park up into the trash can, and this poor guy’s got to lift it off. Fire trucks coming down.”
Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Glassboro residents bash landlord's plan, borough planners agree
