Harrison mulls density issue but OKs Russo Homes in Mullica Hill

Aug 25, 2023

HARRISON TWP. — Zoning officials have approved a 16-home development in Mullica Hill using a largely farmland-designated area that backs up to the Route 322 Bypass.

Wetlands building restrictions substantially reduce the usable portion of the property, which totals about 23.46 acres off East and Earlington avenues. That intersection will form the entrance to the Russo Homes LLC project.

Past uses of the property, actually two lots, also include a lumberyard. A tributary to Raccoon Creek runs around most of the property.

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The Joint Land Use Board approved the project at a June 1 public hearing. Board members unanimously backed a density requirement after a discussion over whether it was legally required, but the approval was unanimous.

Builder Natale Russo, whose local portfolio includes Remington Estates, said he is marketing basic home models but that his company typically turns out customized homes.

Asked about price ranges, Russo said, "We’re probably going to start in the high sixes and probably, I, guess it's going to average out in the eights and nines."

Russo said the homes probably will average close to 3,000 square feet, with smaller models available. "I mean, if we get somebody that wants a big rancher, we’ll put it in as long as it fits on the lot," he said.

"This is an extension of an existing, pretty much residential neighborhood," said Robert Larsen, the land use planner for Russo Homes. "These are homes that are very much in context with the surroundings."

Residents came to the hearing with concerns about storm water running onto their properties as well as into wetlands. The area around the creek already is a flood hazard zone, according to testimony.

Swamp Road resident Jeffrey Clayton said clogged drainage pipes are a long-standing problem.

Clayton said the tributary creek normally has only a few inches of water, but its depth can increase dramatically. "The last major rainstorm we had, it had to be somewhere between 12, 15 feet deep," he said.

"There is a safety issue," Clayton said. "My wife took three young children off the side of the hill that were going down in that basin. And I’ll tell you, if a kid slips in that basin, they’re not getting out."

Hanna Haynes, also a Swamp Road resident, said three water retention basins in the design should allow for "a significant margin of error for any unusual water circumstances."

"And if you are sure… the project will not affect the three of us?" Haynes said. "Then, we would love to have it in writing that this project in no way, shape, or form endanger our access to our properties on both sides."

Project engineer William Parkhill testified water runoff will be reduced from current levels for storms ranging from minor to 100-year events. That reduction is a requirement for new developments that comes from the state Department of Environmental Protection, he said.

"That's accomplished through these basins by creating storage volume for the water to be collected on the site, drain into the basins, and be discharged basically slower over a longer period of time," Parkhill said. "So, we will not have any negative downstream impacts to the existing watershed."

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

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