Cherry Hill, Evesham/Marlton, Medford, Medford Lakes, Moorestown, Mount Laurel, Voorhees and elsewhere near the iconic state highways of Routes 70 and 73.
Earlier versions of this article quoted the acreage total for the country club as stated in the Planning Board resolution. The total size of the property appears to have been overstated in the document.
New housing and commercial development continue to devour New Jersey's open land, with one of the latest major projects the planned demise of the Old Orchard Country Club in Eatontown, Monmouth County.
The country club opened in the first year of the Great Depression and for the last 95 years the scenic golf course has been "sporting trees from the original apple orchard on which it was built...a natural oasis in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Jersey Shore," according to the club website.
But the borough Planning Board last month gave developer Surrey Equities LLC unanimous and final approval for a project that calls for the demolition of the country club and the construction of 145 age-restricted, single-family homes and an 8,316-square-foot clubhouse. The golf course will be divided into six lots, with the residential subdivision on a 72.5-acre lot.
A three-story, 101,340-square-foot CubeSmart self-storage facility will be built on another lot and a 7,694-square-foot CarMax used car and truck sales and service center on another.
The second-largest lot, 35.37 acres, will be set aside as open space and "remain wooded and undeveloped," according to the November 4 Planning Board resolution provided to acrossnj.com under an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request.
Public hearings and testimony on the project were held in June, July and September by the board, which granted preliminary and final major site plan and major subdivision approvals as well as approving zoning variances.
A PDF copy of the Planning Board resolution provided to acrossnj.com is here:
