This Group's primary concerns with the Council's contemplated plan for 150 units of low income rental apartment housing are expressed in the Petition, and mainly focus on the impact on our taxes, schools, infrastructure and our Town. The issue of property values for our Town has not been one of our primary areas of inquiry since we are more concerned about being sure that Council is considering maintaining the excellent schools and not increasing our tax burden to support 150-200 low income households that would occupy the new rental units without paying any property taxes. Nevertheless, while researching other relevant topics on low income housing, I came across very interesting information and research/studies about the potential impact of a 100% low income rental apartment project in a town similar to Moorestown. This research and findings were done by neutral parties, with no apparent agenda. Indeed, one group The National Housing Council advocates for more affordable housing. Almost universally, the findings are the same: "There are several studies that say that there’s no impact, no negative impact, and sometimes positive impact on surrounding neighborhoods with affordable housing units nearby. What seems to be THE ISSUE IS PLACEMENT – if a project is built in a low-income neighborhood, then it can have a “revitalizing” effect and raise property values. If it’s placed in a wealthy neighborhood, then it can have a NEGATIVE effect ..." The Center for Housing Policy Insights wrote a policy brief in 2015 that found in response to the question: "Do impacts vary with the size of the affordable housing development or number of households?" Yes. Several researchers found that larger, MORE CONCENTRATED affordable housing developments were MORE LIKELY than smaller developments TO HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON NEARBY PROPERTY VALUES. For example, a 1993 study by Robert Lyons and Scott Loveridge of subsidized housing in Ramsey County, Minnesota, found substantial reductions in property values when the housing was clustered, as opposed to negligible effects when subsidized units were scattered throughout a neighborhood. In a 2007 study, Ingrid Ellen and her colleagues found that federally subsidized rental housing in New York City did not generally lead to reductions in nearby property values. They did, however, suggest that LARGER MORE CONCENTRATED DEVELOPMENTS may be an exception, DECREASING NEARBY PROPERTY VALUES within the first three years of completion. Galster, in his literature review, suggests there is a widespread pattern of threshold effects whereby the effects on surrounding property values are neutral or positive when affordable housing is relatively dispersed, but become negative once a critical mass of assisted housing sites or units are located in a neighborhood. The effects are most acute in lower value neighborhoods, he maintains, but even in higher value neighborhoods, THE CONCENTRATION OF SITES or UNITS can lead to NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON PROPERTY VALUES. " Some readers may ask "why do property values matter for Moorestown"? According to the same study, "rising property values indicate positive trends" for a town. They signal that a town is a desirable place to live and to locate a business, and influence developers’ decisions to make long-term investments in its future. For individual homeowners, who depend on home equity to provide resources for retirement or finance a child’s education, home values are extremely important. Property values "also may be a proxy for quality of life factors that can be hard to measure and often reflect access to good schools, jobs, shops, parks, and other amenities." One would assume that the Council is aware of this research since the Council claims it is in the best position for making decisions on behalf of the Township's 20,000+ residents without feeling the need to share any of their information or decision-making process with us. Therefore, one must further assume that the Council is proceeding with the bad decision of placing a large development of 100% low income rental apartments in the middle of farmland in a prominent location despite knowing it could irreparably harm the property values of homes in the Township for decades to come. Or, perhaps the Council has not done the research or performed sufficient due diligence on this important issue and is instead feeling pressured into this decision, without realizing the damage they are going to cause to those of us who intend to reside here long term. If you are concerned about the Council's plan, you should communicate with them or plan to attend the next Council meeting to ask questions or raise concerns. In the interim please feel free to email our group at marifho@yahoo.com. Thank you.