Suburban Showdown

Abstract

This chapter describes in great detail the Mount Laurel court case and the controversy it generated. It takes a closer look at the emotion and controversy surrounding Mount Laurel's opposition to the Ethel Lawrence Homes as a prelude to the systematic study on the effects of neighbors, the community, and tenants. In 1967 Ethel Lawrence joined with other local residents to form the Springville Community Action Committee, which was established with the explicit goal of bringing subsidized housing to Mount Laurel. The non-profit obtained seed money from the State of New Jersey and in 1968 optioned a 32-acre parcel in Springville, along Hartford Road, and began drawing up plans to build thirty-six two- and three-bedroom garden apartments affordable to low-income renters. This was the genesis of the suburban showdown that became regional and then national news and led to the landmark New Jersey Supreme Court ruling establishing what became known as “the Mount Laurel Doctrine.”