Township Plays Waiting Game in Lutheran Home Project

Even though the township has faced several setbacks regarding the old Cinnaminson Home on Riverton Road, Lutheran Social Ministries is going ahead with designs for a new housing complex for senior citizens there.

“It’s strictly procedural,” said Committeeman Anthony Minniti, director of economic development, of the setbacks. “This is a state process we have to go through.”

The process is through the Department of Environmental Protection. About five years ago, the township bought the home from a group who had been running it as affordable housing for senior citizens before closing it due to lack of residents.

There were candidates who wanted to buy the spot and turn it into halfway homes.

“We didn’t find those uses very positive for the town,” Minniti said.

So, the township used open space money, about $400,000, to buy the 2.5 acres of land and building with the thought of turning it into a community center or library.

“The sad truth is it would have cost way too much to rehab the building for public assembly,” said John Marshall, zoning officer, who was part of the committee to analyze the structure.

The structure and land was transferred over to Lutheran Social Ministries, a nonprofit housing development organization based in Burlington.

“The intention with the project is to do 54 units of affordable senior apartments,” said Jason Konek, executive director of project development for Lutheran Ministries. “We’re in the midst of design and will submit for township approvals in the next couple of months.”

The front brick part of the structure is a historical building in the township and Konek said it would be preserved.

“It’s been the community for a long time,” Konek said, “so we’re going to try to implement that into a community place.”

Konek said it could be served as a gathering place or gallery for artwork or township artifacts.

However, other parts of the structure would be demolished and rebuilt.

“What we want to try to do it keep it with the way the rest of the residential neighborhood is,” Konek said. “More than likely, we’ll put a parking lot behind the building. It flows nicely there with the residences. We try to do things to incorporate our surroundings and make it nice.”

While Lutheran Ministries is finalizing plans, Konek hopes the township’s dealing with the DEP is worked out in the next couple of months. Since the spot was bought with open space funds, the township needs the DEP to lift the building off the open space list in order to give it fully to Lutheran Ministries. The process is called a diversion.

Buying a piece of land with open space money does not mean it needs to remain open space—the spot, or parts of it, can be preserved as a historical building, farmland and more, said Minniti.

“We never purchased that property with the intention of making it open space,” said Marshall. “We wanted to save it because it was on the historical preservation list.”

Marshall said the township was under the impression the open space list lifting would happen several months ago.

“We thought we were waiting for someone from DEP to get back from vacation,” he said. “For whatever reason, every time we turn around, there’s another stumbling block in the way.”

Larry Hajna, spokesperson for the DEP, said the township must apply with the DEP to divert the land and it usually involves perserving land elsewhere.

"Ultimately, it has to go to the statehouse commission and they would make the final determination," he said.

If the DEP diversion is granted, and Lutheran Ministries goes ahead with their project, Minniti said these units would also fulfill an affordable housing obligation set forth by the state for Cinnaminson. And Lutheran Ministries would reimburse the township for money put into the establishment. There is no cost to the taxpayers.

“We bought it for historical preservation because all the options that were being considered involved [total] demolition,” Minniti said. “We jumped in to rescue what would have been a clearly negative turn in regard to that property.”

A public hearing on the project will be held at 6 p.m., Oct. 17. Residents of the neighborhoods have been invited.