The Locustwood neighborhood off Route 70 and Haddonfield Road is one of mature trees and a blend of housing, from older homes to relatively new construction. This sign warns drivers of their speed on Chambers Avenue, near the Route 70 intersection. This spot is just beyond the Sunny Days Children's Academy at 1210 Chambers Ave.
The proposed expansions of car dealers bordering the Locustwood neighborhood in Cherry Hill continues: Cherry Hill Dodge wants to tear down two houses and add an employee parking lot at its dealership.
Cherry Hill Dodge's application, from owner Charles W. Foulke Jr., goes before the township Planning Board on July 20. Foulke's company does business as Cherry Hill Triplex, with more than a dozen auto franchises in South Jersey.
Meanwhile, the request to expand a Land Rover/Jaguar dealership onto its former site on Haddonfield Road and add two parking lots will again be before the Zoning Board of Adjustment Thursday night for the third round of hearings. The dealership is owned by Cherry Hill Imports, which owns dealerships for high-end foreign brands including Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.
The Land Rover plan would tear down two homes in the Locustwood neighborhood and the former South Jersey Women's Center to accommodate mainly parking for the dealership's inventory of vehicles.Â
» MORE: Land Rover plan goes before zoning for a third time.
Cosmas P. Diamantis, Cherry Hill township's community development director, told 70and73.com in an email on Wednesday that the Planning Board and not the Zoning Board will rule on Cherry Hill Dodge's proposal because its plan is a permitted use for the lots. The Land Rover plan went before zoning because the proposed use was not permitted and the dealer needed a variance that only the zoning board could grant, he explained.
The Cherry Hill Dodge parking lot expansion involves four lots, including the main dealership location at 1708 Route 70. The other lots are:
- 1313 Wynwood Ave., a house and land purchased for $200,000 in November 2012 and owned by McCall & Remi LLC, according to state property records. The owner's address listed is 1805 Route 70, which is the address for Cherry Hill Mitsubishi, part of the Triplex.
- 1315 Wynwood Ave., a house and land at the corner of Chambers Street, purchased for $320,000 in February 2018 and owned by Lenny Realty LLC, which also lists the 1805 Route 70 address, according to state records.
- 1205 Chambers St., now empty land, purchased for $300,000 in October 2012 and owned by McCall & Remi LLC, according to state records.Â
Foulke's application for Cherry Hill Dodge asks the Planning Board to permit a total of 559 parking spaces where the maximum is otherwise 245.
The application also requests closer setbacks than permitted for the lots. For example, the applicant asks permission for a residential landscaping buffer setback of 6.34 feet where one of 25 feet is required. That setback would border a residential property at 1207 Chambers St., owned by Vincent and Mariana Carosella, according to state tax records. That residence would be bordered by the Cherry Hill Dodge lot on three sides.
"The Council of Cherry Hill Civic Associations is always opposed to encroachment into our residential neighborhoods. This is no exception," Dawn Higgins, president of the Erlton North Windsor Civic Association and facilitator for the council, told 70and73.com Wednesday morning in a text message. The council represents associations in 13 Cherry Hill neighborhoods.
Higgins and the council also spoke out against the Land Rover-Jaguar expansion.
The three lots outlined in yellow in the upper right would be converted to employee parking.
