A small town about 20 miles outside of Philadelphia is debating plans for a development that would single-handedly deliver six times as much new housing as the community welcomed last decade.
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D.R. Horton is planning to build 857 units, a mix of townhouses and apartments, on a 411-acre site in Lumberton, New Jersey. Attorneys representing the developer and the town presented the plan to community members Thursday night and received pushback, local news outlet 70and73 reported.
Residents expressed concerns about the impact the development would have on traffic, schools and stormwater drainage.
"We know that you don't want the project. Nobody ever does," D.R. Horton's attorney, Stuart Platt of The Platt Law Group, said at the meeting, 70and73 reported.
D.R. Horton New Jersey Division President Jenna Gannon, in response to a Bisnow request for additional comment, said the developer appreciated meeting with Lumberton residents and hearing their concerns.
"We understand this is a significant proposal for the community, and we take seriously the feedback shared at the meeting, including concerns about traffic, density and the character of the Township," Gannon said in an emailed statement.
"The proposed development is intended to help address a documented and growing need for housing in the region, particularly at affordable price points. We are committed to working through that process openly with the Township, the residents who will be most affected and all other stakeholders."
The project is planned to include 92 affordable apartments for families, 80 age-restricted affordable apartments and 179 townhouses for seniors, with the remainder of the units being market-rate townhouses.
Arlington, Texas-based D.R. Horton is the nation's largest homebuilder, having completed and sold more than 1.2 million homes in its 47-year history.
Lumberton had a population of just over 13,000 people in 2024, according to U.S. census estimates. The town had 5,024 housing units as of 2023, according to a housing plan officials published last June, meaning this project would increase its housing stock by 17%.
Just 131 of the town's housing units were built between 2010 and 2019, and zero permits for new housing were issued between 2020 and 2023, according to the June plan.
But town officials projected in the plan that it would add 1,457 housing units through 2035, the majority of which would be in the D.R. Horton development.
The plan said that site has been identified for redevelopment since 2018, and it proposed to revise the development plan to make it "viable from a community planning perspective" and "from a financial feasibility perspective."
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