On the north side of Bordentown-Crosswicks Road sits a 61-acre parcel known as the Liedtka property. It is the largest piece of land left in Old York Village, and a tributary to Crosswicks Creek runs through it. Under Chesterfield Township's rules, a builder can't put homes there simply by buying the dirt. The builder also needs about 55 development credits, and each credit has to come from farmland somewhere else in the township that gives up its right to be developed.
That arrangement explains why Chesterfield looks the way it does. Across more than two decades, the number of new homes, the size of their lots, and the farm fields you pass on the drive between them all trace back to development credits. In 2026 the township deliberately lowered the number of credits each market-rate home needs.
One House, One Credit, One Farm Easement
Chesterfield's Transfer of Development Rights program, or TDR, sorts land into two groups. Farmland in the sending area earns credits. The Smart Preservation profile of the program puts the historical sending area at 7,472 farmland acres in parcels over 10 acres, with credits allocated by how well the soil supports septic systems. The receiving area is Old York Village, a 560-acre sewered zone planned as a traditional neighborhood connected to Crosswicks.
A state case study from the State Agriculture Development Committee describes three steps between a farm field and a finished house:
- Enroll. The landowner enrolls credits in the program.
- Assign. Enrolled credits are assigned to a developer, who can use them in the receiving area.
- Extinguish. The credit is retired when it is used on a specific lot, and the township clerk records it.
Under the master plan, one credit allows one single-family home. Smaller homes, townhouses, and apartments use fractions of a credit, and one credit also covers 2,000 square feet of commercial space. The Burlington County Development Credit Bank helped market credits and buy and sell them, and developers had to acquire credits before they could build.
Affordable units need no credits. For the market-rate homes in Old York Village, the builder's credit cost was part of the cost of building each one.
The Credit Price Shaped the Lot Lines
Before the market opened, economist Dr. Jim Nicholas estimated a credit's value at $26,000. His model found something that still shows in the streets today. A credit's value rose as density increased, because building more homes per acre saved on construction costs. Past a certain point, the lower value of each more crowded home cancelled out those savings.
That tradeoff shows up in the original plan. The Old York build-out allowed 1,200 homes. Seventy-two percent were set on 7,000 to 10,000 square foot lots, 20% were triplexes, and 2% were apartments, along with commercial space and an elementary school. That mix sits close to where Nicholas said credit value peaks. It is dense enough to spread the credit cost across many homes, and spacious enough to keep the homes valuable.
The market ran hotter than his estimate. At the last public auction, held in July 2004, 50 credits sold for $50,000 each. That figure is more than two decades old. The township's own February 2026 housing plan says credit prices have varied widely since trading began in 2003. Under the one-credit-per-house rule, the 2004 auction price matched what one credit for a single-family home cost on that day.
Builders shaped their products to fit those rules. American Properties marketed its Traditions at Chesterfield community with neo-traditional townhomes in a Carriage Collection, then single-family homes. In 2020 the company described those homes as three to four bedrooms with 2.5 to 3 baths, two-car garages, and full basements.
Old York Village Is Almost Built Out
The township's Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, amended February 2026, sums up the result. More than 1,100 credits have been enrolled, and the receiving area has filled with 1,133 homes over 24 years. The plan says plainly that "the development of Old York Village is nearing completion."
The other half of the trade shows up on Burlington County's preserved acreage table, dated February 6, 2026. It credits Chesterfield with 8,118.94 preserved acres, and 2,998.04 of them were preserved through TDR.
For a buyer, this changes which homes are realistically available. Nearly all of the township's planned growth went into one village, and that village is close to finished. A home in Old York is mostly a resale purchase now, in a neighborhood whose density was set by credit economics in the early 2000s.
In 2026, the Township Changed How Many Credits a Home Needs
That leaves the Liedtka tract. It carries 7.75 allocated credits and sits in the PVD-1 district, which allows up to 2 credits per acre. The 2002 Master Plan concept expected about 120 homes there, 8 of them affordable. The landowner prefers mostly single-family homes, and wetlands and buffers limit the site to roughly 115 to 120 homes.
The February 2026 plan proposed raising the tract's affordable set-aside from 6% to 10% and paying for that change by lowering the credits each market-rate home requires:
| Lot type | Lot size | Credits required before | Credits proposed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached perimeter lot | 8,000 to 10,000 sq ft | 1.0 | 0.6 |
| Detached village lot | 4,500 to 7,000 sq ft | 0.9 | 0.54 |
| Triplex or townhouse lot | 2,500 to 4,500 sq ft | 0.75 | 0.45 |
| Affordable unit | Varies | 0 | 0 |
Each of the three market-rate lot types drops by 40%, and affordable units stay at zero. The plan also confirms that duplex and quad-style buildings may hold the affordable units, which should be spread throughout the development. The township says the change is meant "to balance the interests of the receiving area landowners, sending area credit holders, developer/builders, Township, and County."
The Township Committee adopted Ordinance 2026-04 on March 12, 2026, amending the land development code to change TDR credit and receiving area requirements in line with the housing plan. The plan expects the change to affect other undeveloped, unapproved sites in the receiving area too.
Even at the lower rate, the Liedtka tract still needs about 55 credits. The township plans to encourage private sales from credit holders and to work with Burlington County on a credit auction if needed, and it says it expects an auction will be needed. The plan names no builder, no auction date, and no minimum price. Its auction language says only that a minimum would be set with input from advisers, staff, and developers.
Where the Township's Affordable Housing Obligation Fits
The credit change answers a state requirement. A court set Chesterfield's fourth-round affordable housing obligation at 45 units on April 17, 2025. That follows 55 prior-round units and 90 third-round units.
The amended plan meets the 45 units three ways:
- Liedtka property: 12 proposed for-sale affordable homes in Old York Village
- 87 Bordentown-Chesterfield Road: 19 to 25 proposed affordable rentals
- Bonus credits: 11, with any extra credits carried into the fifth round
The Bordentown-Chesterfield Road site moved quickly. In January 2026 the township was pursuing it as a fallback while it continued to seek state-owned property on Ward Avenue. By March 12, 2026, Ordinance 2026-05 had rezoned the 6-acre site, Block 206 Lot 17.01, from PVD-2 to PVD-4. The new zoning allows affordable multifamily apartments at up to 11 units per gross acre, all restricted to very-low, low, or moderate-income households. The plan proposes a 60-unit affordable family rental project there and allows 60 to 66 total units. It is still a planned project.
Income limits and eligibility for deed-restricted homes come from program rules this post doesn't cover. This is general information, not legal or financial advice, so confirm the details for your own household with the program administrator or a qualified professional.
The County Numbers Through a Chesterfield Lens
Public NJ REALTORS reports stop at the county level, so the clearest current numbers describe Burlington County as a whole. In September 2026, the county's single-family median sale price was $455,000, up 1.1% from a year earlier. Homes sold in 33 days on average and closed at 101.0% of list price, and months of supply was 3.0. Townhouses and condos moved differently. Their September 2026 median was $318,000, down 12.9% year over year, while inventory rose 28.1% to 292 homes and months of supply reached 2.9.
Those are county figures, and Chesterfield is a small part of them. They still help frame the Chesterfield decision. Across the county, single-family homes are selling above list, while attached homes have more competition and softer prices. Old York Village offers both kinds of homes. Its triplex lots were 20% of the original plan, and its detached lots carry the higher credit requirement. Because the village is almost built out, new construction won't add much competition for either kind. The supply of resale homes is set by how many current owners decide to sell.
Quick Questions
How are TDR credits used in Old York Village? Credits are bought and used by developers when they build in the receiving area.
How many homes could the Liedtka tract add? The township plan puts the likely yield at roughly 115 to 120 homes, depending on the developer's mix of lot types, with 12 affordable homes planned there.
Choosing a home in Chesterfield means choosing a lot type that was shaped by credit math. That covers a perimeter lot, a village lot, a triplex in Old York, or a home among preserved fields. The Hawleywood Homes Real Estate Team can walk you through how each one fits your budget and timeline. Contact Us to get started.
