Part of the former Holly Ravine Farm property in Cherry Hill on Springdale Road, across from ShopRite and near the intersection of Evesham Road.
Enduring a meeting that lasted more than six hours, the Cherry Hill zoning board early Thursday morning unanimously rejected a developer's plan to build a 175-unit senior-living complex on Holly Ravine farmland.
Board members, who were considering a non-permitted use in a zone for single-family homes, said they were concerned with overstepping the Township Master Plan, traffic around the intersection of Evesham and Springdale roads, and the impact on the surrounding community, especially the potential for viewing the top of the complex over the treeline.
"I was looking to find ways to vote for it," board member Rob Connor said during the vote. He said his family recently had to place an aging family member in a facility but could not find one suitable in Cherry Hill.
But, Connor added: "This application is not going to work at this particular property."
The Zoning Board of Adjustment vote was 6-0 to refuse the use variance, a move that defeated the plan. Board members also voted 5-1 against a height variance to 41 feet from the permitted 35 feet.
Caddis Acquisition Partners LLC of Dallas proposed to build its branded Heartis combination facility with independent senior living (85 units), assisted living (66 units) and memory care (24 beds) on 22.64 acres. The 175 units would contain a total of 226 beds, the developer's representatives said when asked at the meeting about the population of the site.
Meanwhile, early Thursday morning, Township Council President David Fleisher shared his hope that Holly Ravine would remain open space.
"Town Council would love to see the Holly Ravine property preserved as open space. I look forward to sitting down in good faith with the owners to discuss ways to protect this property," Fleisher said in an email.
The Wednesday night meeting, which started an hour earlier than usual at 6 p.m., concluded around 12:45 a.m. with the board vote.
Twenty-seven members of the public testified, with only four backing the project.
"If central casting was looking for a character that embodied suburban sprawl, Cherry Hill would be a shoo-in," Eric Ascalon, who lives on Owl Place, said during public testimony.
The Township already has lost too much open space, he said, adding that the developer's application is "an end run around our well-conceived Master Plan."
Ascalon — who founded the 639-member Facebook group Save the Holly Ravine Farm to oppose the plan — listed several existing senior-living properties in Cherry Hill and neighboring towns, and asked if more are needed.
"There are more of these things than there are Wawas," he said.
Richard J. Goldstein, of the Cherry Hill law firm of Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller, began the applicant's presentation by going over New Jersey land-use case law.
Goldstein said the courts have found senior-living projects like Caddis' to be of an inherently beneficial use in a community. Caddis representatives also emphasized a growing demand for senior-citizen housing.
The lawyer also maintained that New Jersey case law covering height variance requests shows that an approved use variance carries with it the implication that the permitted height of a project would not necessarily be limited to the same height requirements of a permitted use.Â
Others, opposing the project, cited case law about developments that block the views of residents.Â
With the zoning board rejection, the only redress for Caddis is to file suit in New Jersey Superior Court.
Both the public and board members cited many reasons they do not want to see the senior complex rise over the heavily wooded farm property, which faces both Evesham and Springdale roads. More than 1,000 trees exist on the land, but the project called for removing just 36 and planting an additional 418 trees.Â
Board member Gregory Bruno, who was the sole vote in favor of the height variance, expressed concern because no traffic signals were planned on proposed driveways on both roads.
"I find it scary and deadly that neither of these exits will be traffic-controlled," Bruno said. He said seniors will be exiting on busy roads, including making left turns onto Evesham Road.
Bruno's other major issue, he said, was that taxpayers may end up paying for improvements to the Township sewer system to handle the increase from the development's sewage.
"What we're proposing tonight is a large development, which will have 100 employees coming daily, and some number of residents adding to our sanitary sewage system," Bruno said at the meeting.
Goldstein later noted that Caddis would pay a $385,000 sewer connection fee, in addition to the annual sewer tax.
The Holly Ravine farmland property would have been purchased from the Gilmour family, the heirs of former Cherry Hill Mayor John C. Gilmour Jr. and his wife, Eva Davis Gilmour, who had farmed the land since the late 1920s. John died at 85 years old in 1993 and Eva died in 2011 at the age of 102.
Family member Kathy Ripple-Gilmour said the Gilmours had "tried for decades to preserve this farm."
"This property will not remain a farm, regardless of what happens tonight," she told the board. "The burden of caring for this farm has been overwhelming."Â
Residents who testified said the three-story facility would have been too imposing in that section of Cherry Hill, which abuts neighborhoods and The Legacy Club, formerly the Woodcrest Country Club.
"It is not in character with the surrounding neighborhood," testified community advocate Martha Wright, who lives on Munn Lane. "If approved, this structure will ruin the natural beauty of the area," added Wright, who frequently testifies at zoning and planning hearings.
When weighing the positive benefits against the negative issues, "the scale does not balance," Wright added.
Long-time resident Leslie Karpiak of Crane Drive said the Holly Ravine farm held a "special place in our hearts."
But, Karpiak said, the board should vote in favor of the project because "now, as senior citizens, we welcome the addition of senior housing in our backyard."
Mara Wuebker, the Township deputy community development director, told board members that the Caddis development in an R2-Single Family Residential Zone appears to go against the underlying philosophies of the 2018 Master Plan.
Wuebker, who submitted parts of the Master Plan as evidence at the meeting, included an excerpt that showed the "intent" of the R2 zone "is to provide '...for single-family detached dwellings on lots of moderate size that stabilize and protect the surrounding neighborhood.'" She said the R2 zone calls for a maximum of 4.7 single-family units per acre.
The Gilmour family bought the farmhouse in 1921 without electricity near Springdale and Evesham roads. As mayor, John Gilmour later oversaw part of Cherry Hill's suburban building boom, serving between 1963 and 1971.
In the late 1980s, the first development of Holly Ravine farmland occurred when acreage at Evesham and Springdale roads was sold to a developer. The development deal meant the end of the iconic Cowtail Bar, a source of ice cream to area families, and Moo Zoo animal petting area, both of which shut down in December 1987.
"I held out as long as I could, but agriculture and suburban development just don't mix," Gilmour told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1987, the year he sold part of his property at the intersection for a shopping center.
The development, Shoppes at Holly Ravine, now holds a Wawa, CVS and other retailers.
Bob Gilmour, speaking for the Holly Ravine family, stated in a press release last week that until now the remainder of the farm had unsuccessfully been shopped to Cherry Hill Township and developers.
"After two unsuccessful attempts at preservation of the land, first with New Jersey Farm Preservation Committee and then Cherry Hill Township, we put the property on the market," Gilmour said in the statement.
"Over the years, several buyers have shown interest but were never able to find a development plan that worked," he stated. "Now that Caddis Partners is interested in putting a senior care facility on the property and will preserve the character of the farm and the natural beauty of the land, we believe this current plan will be the best outcome for the area residents and community."Â Â
Christine A. Nazzaro-Cofone, of Red Bank-based Cofone Consulting Group LLC and the planner for the Caddis project, said no tax breaks were sought for the project and, because its market is senior citizens, it would not add to enrollment of the Cherry Hill School District.
She contended that the aging of the population, including people who live in Cherry Hill, has been increasing the demand for senior-living facilities.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF THIS TOPIC BYÂ 70and73.COM
- 10 points to consider about the Holly Ravine development decision in Cherry Hill.
- How a developer plans to turn Cherry Hill's Holly Ravine Farm into housing for seniors.
- Development tug of war over plan to turn Holly Ravine Farm land into senior-living complex.
- Council president: Cherry Hill tried to buy Holly Ravine farm; owners say Township offers too low.
- Plan to build senior independent living at Holly Ravine farm in Cherry Hill continued to May 31.
The Holly Ravine property is outlined in orange. The shopping center in the lower right corner of the property once was the Cowtail Bar and Moo Zoo. The preserved Saddlehill farm, formerly Stafford farm, is in the lower right, just over the Voorhees border. More than 1,000 trees exist on the land.
From the animation, a potential view of the senior living development from Springdale Road.
From the 3D animation, a potential view of the senior living development from Evesham Road.
From the 3D animation, a potential view of the senior living development from Evesham Road.
