A central view of the proposed site for the child care center.
A developer that wanted permission to build a childcare center on a busy Cherry Hill intersection was sent away with a resounding "No!" early Friday morning by the Zoning Board of Adjustment after a marathon 5½-hour meeting.
If the project had been approved with a variance to build in the residential zone, MIRA Properties would have used a wooded lot at Kresson Road and Browning Lane to construct a franchised 8,885-square-foot Kiddie Academy Educational Child Care, a 3,500-square-foot fenced-in play area and 47 parking spaces. Two single-family homes on the approximately one-acre site were demolished several years ago.
But, even at the pre-meeting caucus, some on the zoning board expressed concerns about squeezing the center onto the corner lot.
"They're putting a business on a residential site that is too small for a business," board Chair Jonathan Rardin said at the caucus.
Later, after 1 a.m., Rardin called for a board vote and noted: "The negative vastly outweighs what little positive there may be." He added that "there was no evidence that a childcare center in this location was necessary."
Board members voted twice, once with a unanimous "yes" vote to turn down the application and then again with a unanimous "no" vote to approve the application. In each case, the vote was six members against the project and none in favor.
Detail of the proposed project positioning on the approximately one acre of property. Browning Lane is at the bottom and Kresson Road is to the left.
MIRA is owned by Adam Zaken, who used to live in Cherry Hill and is listed as its president, along with Ilan Zaken and Irit Zaken. They also own the property.
MIRA Properties' lawyer at the zoning board hearing was Louis Cappelli Jr., who is director of the Camden County Board of Commissioners. He is a partner with Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt & Cappelli, LLC of Cherry Hill.
The two lots are outlined in yellow.
Zaken told the board he grew up down the street from the site and graduated from Cherry Hill High School East.Â
He said the site has been an "eyesore for many years," adding that many of the trees on the property are dead.
"I think we can erect on this something that will look much better than it is," he told the board.
Board member Greg Bruno asked Zaken if his family razed the two houses on the property. Zaken said they did with the intention of building two new homes, but that plan did not work out.
Bruno said that it was Zaken who demolished the homes on the property and had left it. And now he calls it an "eyesore," Bruno said.
The board member also challenged the proposed clear-cutting of trees.
"You're proposing taking everything down but two trees, is that correct?" Bruno asked.
"That's correct," responded the applicant's engineer, Thomas Bechard of Mohawk Land Development Consultants of Exton, Pennsylvania.
"That's sad," Bruno said. The developer's application states that 22 trees would be removed. The two trees left would have been on the border of the property near the street.
Several Cherry Hill residents and neighbors strongly protested the proposed development during the public testimony part of the meeting.
"This is not in balance with our residential community," resident Christina Bartnikowski of Bunker Hill Drive told the board.
Eric Ascalon, an Owl Place homeowner who is a frequent advocate for open space in Cherry Hill, called the proposed project a "disaster," contending it is forcing "10 pounds of potatoes into a five-pound bag."
Citing heavy traffic in the area, Kathy Steinle of Liberty Bell Drive talked about trying to get out of her driveway to take children to school.
"It was difficult back in the 90s and the 2000s and it's worse now," she said.
With such a development, she added, "we're changing the neighborhood from residential to commercial."
