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A new plan underway for Haddonfield's Bancroft property

The Haddonfield Board of Commissioners approved two agreements-in-principle Tuesday night that could lead to the borough's purchasing the Bancroft School property for public use and private housing, but not for a contested drug and alcohol treatment center.

The Haddonfield Board of Commissioners approved two agreements-in-principle Tuesday night that could lead to the borough's purchasing the Bancroft School property for public use and private housing, but not for a contested drug and alcohol treatment center.

Both proposed agreements are subject to action by the borough planning board, public discussion, and further action and approval by the commissioners. They passed the board by 3-0.

"After months of discussion and negotiations, I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement regarding the future of the Bancroft property in Haddonfield," Mayor Jeff Kasko said in a statement.

After years of debate over the site, Kasko said, "we can now move forward as a community to see this property utilized in a manner that is beneficial to the current and future residents and taxpayers of Haddonfield."

The first of the two agreements would be among the borough, Bancroft, and 2 Hopkins Lane L.L.C., the company that would have bought the land for Recovery Centers of America (RCA), the treatment center proposed by developer J. Brian O'Neill.

That agreement would set a June 30 closing date for the sale of the property to the borough. It would also set lease payments of $150,000 a year for the first two years and $300,000 a year afterward by Bancroft. Bancroft intends to move its operation to a new campus in Mount Laurel.

The second agreement-in-principle sets forth several provisions and possible outcomes, including:

A sale price of $12.9 million for the borough to buy the 19.2-acre property.

An option for O'Neill's 2 Hopkins Lane L.L.C. to buy 8.2 acres at $5.5 million to develop age-targeted, probably over age 55, market-rate townhouses.

An opt-out for 2 Hopkins Lane L.L.C. to not buy back the acres and, instead, for the borough to pay an additional $600,000 for the land.

The agreement also calls for a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) program between the townhouse developer and the borough that would generate enough revenue to cover the borough's bond payments and not result in a property-tax increase for residents.

The design of the townhouses would be in keeping with Haddonfield's historic character and be approved by the borough Historic Preservation Commission and the planning board, according to the mayor.

The Bancroft site, Kasko said, could be paid for by a combination of the money paid for the townhouse property, local Open Space money, and state and county Green Acres funds. The rest - about $5 million - would be financed through a bond that would be paid for by revenue from the residential portion, he said.

Commissioners John Moscatelli and Neal Rochford expressed support for the proposed agreements before Tuesday's session.

O'Neill, in a statement prepared in anticipation of the commissioners' action, said, "I believe this is a win for all involved - for Haddonfield's residents, for Bancroft, and for RCA."

The proposed treatment center had drawn much opposition from residents. The townhouse portion of the current proposal calls for 70 market-rate homes and 10 affordable units.

Asked about the proposed agreement, Bancroft spokeswoman Lori Shaffer said: "We continue to be excited for our future move to a more expansive space in Mount Laurel to provide our much-needed services to the community."

Bancroft has been looking to sell the property for several years. A proposal for the Haddonfield School District to acquire the land for about $12 million was defeated in a sharply debated bond referendum in 2013. Another proposal for Camden County to buy the land was put on the back burner last fall.

Brian Kelly, founder of grassroots Haddonfield United, which opposed the referendum purchase, called Tuesday's proposed agreements "a balanced solution" that will lessen the financial impact of the purchase on seniors and other taxpayers.

856-779-3893 rgiordano@phillynews.com

@ritagiordano