To the Editor:
The approach of providing affordable units as a percentage of units in development projects is a good approach for maintaining the stock of affordable units in the community. It is not as good for producing the numbers of units required to meet state mandates in the short term. For every 20 affordable units, 80 other units are also constructed; to reach 100 units, 400 additional units will be added. This will leave the community forever chasing the mandate.
Constructing an affordable development at the Westminster Choir College site has many advantages: The site is walkable to the Princeton Shopping Center, for grocery shopping, pharmacy, dining, a hardware store, and some medical providers; it is adjacent to school facilities; it is a site recently used for multi-family housing; it is a relatively flat site which should be easy to develop; it is not adjacent to a historic district; and all units could be applied toward the mandate, not just 20 percent.
I hope the Municipality will consider this use for the site.