The developer's rendering of the front of the proposed Monarch senior facility on Route 73, north of the Cedar Hill Shopping Center (BJ's and Lowe's).
UPDATE: A notice on the Voorhees Township website announces that tonight's meeting (Thursday, June 23) has been cancelled. The Monarch application will be heard at the August 11 meeting.
A developer planning a 216-unit assisted/independent-living facility on Route 73 in Voorhees has requested design waivers from zoning ordinances that require berms, landscaping and fencing to go on property borders, according to Township documents.
Monarch Development Company JV LLC of New Hampshire also requested waivers to permit brighter outside lighting than allowed by zoning ordinances, according to a June 20 review letter from zoning board engineer Rakesh R. Darji of Environmental Resolutions Inc. of Mount Laurel.Â
Monarch's application for the waivers and preliminary and final site approvals is scheduled to be heard by the Zoning Board of Adjustment on Thursday (June 23) at 7 p.m.
The three-story building would be constructed at 178 Route 73, a 10.1-acre site of the former Mama Ventura's restaurant across from the Virtua healthcare center and next to the shopping center housing BJ's Wholesale Club and Lowe's.
An unused parking lot and trees fill the site, which borders homes on Whitby and Tarnsfield courts, William Feather Drive and Beacon Place.
"There is no fence or berm proposed along residential boundaries," Darji wrote in his review letter.
The application also asks for a waiver from lighting requirements. The developer proposes a maximum of 4.4 foot-candles in parking areas when a maximum of 0.9 foot-candles is permitted under Voorhees zoning law, according to the application. Maximum illumination at property borders is 0.2 foot-candles, but the developer wants a waiver to have a maximum of 1.5 foot-candles.
The property is owned by 178 Rt 73 MVI Assoc. II LLC of Greenwich, Connecticut.
Monarch Development states in its plans that the 218,500-square-foot facility will be for independent living, assisted living and memory care. According to the plans, the complex will include 134 congregate-care apartment units, 52 assisted-living units and 30 memory-care units and 121 parking spaces.
» MORE INFORMATION: Documents on the Township website.
The proposed site on the northbound side of Route 73 on the former Mama Ventura's restaurant property is outlined in yellow.
The proposed site for the Monarch senior-living facility on the property of the now-demolished Mama Ventura's restaurant and bar on Route 73. The restaurant's parking lot remains. The Virtua healthcare complex is to the right, across Route 73.Â
