Developer of Old Marlton Pike site in Medford returns to Township with day care, store plan.

A developer whose controversial plan for a storage facility on Old Marlton Pike in Medford was denied last year by the zoning board will return in August with a proposal to build a day care center and retail store on the property.

Fieldstone at Medford LLC of Bridgewater, New Jersey — a company with common ownership of the Barclay Chase apartment complex in Evesham on the other side of Route 70 from this site — seeks approval for preliminary and major site plan approval for its new project.

The plan was on the agenda for this Wednesday's Planning Board meeting, but it has been continued to the August 23 session.

Fieldstone at Medford also is the owner of the 196-198 Old Marlton Pike site, which is about 400 feet from the Route 70 intersection. The Barclay Chase apartments are on Route 70 less than a mile away.

Previous related 70and73.com articles

• Evesham council approves sale of DPW site to apartment developer for $1.52M.
• Medford zoning board rejects developer's plan for self-storage facility on Old Marlton Pike.
• Developer downscales plan for proposed self-storage facility in Medford on Old Marlton Pike.
• Medford residents fight 972-unit storage building on Old Marlton Pike.
• Evesham Council to vote on tax-exemption for public works yard sale to developer.

A plan for a self-storage facility nearly three times the permitted building size on the 4.65-acre property on June 15, 2022 was rejected by a 6-1 vote of the Zoning Board of Adjustment even after Fieldstone reduced the proposed size of the facility. 

Designed to look like a giant barn, the 94,100-square-foot building would have had 766 storage units, down from 972 units in the original plan.

"If this thing is built, it's going to be in my backyard, it's going to be right in my face," Richard Sopala, who lives on Bellwether Court next to the property, testified before the board at the time. "This is very disappointing that something like this would be a possibility to be built in Medford."

Several times during that meeting, Fieldstone representatives said that some permitted uses, including a day care center or a fast-food restaurant, could have a greater impact on traffic.

"I think counsel (Fieldstone lawyer Patrick F. McAndrew) and his experts used the term 'fast food' more times than I've heard ever in an hour and I think that was on purpose," Timothy Stauss, of Bellwether Court, said at last year's meeting. "I think that this was an underlying threat to say 'Hey, you better approve this because otherwise there is going to be a Wendy's and a McDonald's right next door.' "

Fieldstone in late June filed the application to build a 10,000-square-foot day care center, which the company stated would have 163 children and 21 teachers. Plans show it as a "Learning Experience" center, part of a national company that has several operations in New Jersey including Marlton, Cherry Hill and Voorhees, according to the corporate website. The day care center would have 55 parking spaces.

A 10,640-square-foot retail space next door, described only as a "variety store" in the application, would have 59 parking spaces. Plans do not show a drive-through, which would indicate a fast-food restaurant.

A traffic report with the Fieldstone application estimates the total number of vehicles entering and existing the property during the weekday morning peak hour and evening peak hour. The two facilities would generate a total of 142 trips in the morning and 182 in the evening.

The project would have two driveways: an entrance and exit on the straight part of Old Marlton Pike and an entrance-only drive on the curve of Old Marlton Pike before it intersects with itself.