A subdivision of 117 single-family homes in one of South Jersey’s fastest-growing communities has been approved for vacant farmland.
The Harrison Township Joint Land Use Board memorialized its decision in July to allow ActiveRHWA Property LLC to subdivide and build four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath homes on nearly 94 acres along Richwood-Aura Road in the Gloucester County community.
Homes in The Reserve at Richwood would range from 2,700 to 4,000 square feet and are expected to sell for $800,000 to $1 million, according to documents filed with the developer’s application.
Harrison Township has been one of South Jersey’s growth stars.
Between 2000 and 2020, the number of housing units in town grew by 56%, four times the 14% rate of increase for New Jersey as a whole, according to decennial census data. The number of housing units in Gloucester County rose 23% over the same period.
Developer ActiveRHWA Property LLC is owned by Active Acquisitions LLC, a privately held real estate development firm based in Wall.
The $58.5-million development is in the town’s Interior Richwood Redevelopment area.
Four residents testified about the project at a hearing last December, raising concerns about the increased number of children in the school district, the impact on biking in the area, and the ruination of one resident’s sunset views over the farmland.
An impact statement filed with the application estimates the development will have 435 residents, and 124 of them will be school-aged.
While the municipality, local school district (K-6), and regional district (7-12) will receive property taxes, the amount paid to the municipality and local district will not fully cover costs, the developer’s impact statement says.
“The substantial positive tax revenues generated by the non-residential uses in the other phases of the Richwood Redevelopment Project are designed to more than offset this residential deficit,” according to the impact analysis by Consulting Engineer Services of Sicklerville.
Construction is expected to begin late this year or early next year and take three to five years, according to the developer’s documents.
