Evesham Planning Board OK's retail, offices on Tuckerton Road; residents fear traffic increases.

An office and retail development next to the Evesham Municipal Complex on Tuckerton Road was unanimously approved by the Planning Board on Thursday night over the objections of residents, who said an increase in traffic would overburden the road.

Tuckerton Developers LLC of Medford got the go-ahead to build a two-story office building and up to six retail stores, including a Dunkin' Donuts-type of restaurant with a drive-through, on the site of the former Morrison's Garden Center.

"The redevelopment as proposed would have detrimental impacts on the community around it," resident Evan Sharko, who lives a few hundred feet away on Old Marlton Pike, told the board. "It fails to bring any benefit to it."

Sharko and other residents expressed concern about the impact on the intersection of Tuckerton Road and Old Marlton Pike. That intersection will feed an entrance to the development, but there were no plans disclosed to improve the intersection.

Resident Jill Torpey, who lives on Barton Run Boulevard, shared her worries about the traffic around the site. She said there was no testimony about how peak-hours traffic would change — testimony nearly always included with new development proposals in municipalities.

The absence of a traffic engineer for the developer also was a concern for resident Andrew J. Farrell III of Stoney Brook Lane. He told the board he had questions for a traffic engineer.

Jeffrey I. Baron, of the Voorhees law firm of Baron & Brennan, told the board that the traffic engineer could not make Thursday's meeting because he had a conflict.

An updated traffic report has yet to be finished, he said, and it will be sent to the board when it is complete.

However, Baron said, Tuckerton Road and Old Marlton Pike are not under the jurisdiction of the Township, but overseen by the Burlington County Planning Board. The county board has yet to hear the application.

"The traffic report is not done for this board," Baron said. "The traffic report is done for the county."

Tuckerton Developers — primarily owned by Gary F. Gardner of Medford and Andrew Crossed and Richard Crossed, both of Rochester, New York — received board approval of preliminary- and final-major-site plans and bulk variances to build the 9,750-square-foot strip of stores and the 14,450-square-foot office building. Gardner operates Gary F. Gardner Inc., a residential and commercial construction company based on Gravelly Hollow Road in Medford.

Buildings now on the 4.71-acre site will be demolished. The buildings were associated with Morrison's, which opened in 1963 and shut down around 2014. It also owned land behind the site, which was sold to the Township for athletic fields.

The project includes a 48-space, police-vehicle parking lot next to the municipal complex that will be leased to the Township. The lot would be separated from the commercial development by an eight-foot fence.

In a review letter, the Evesham Fire Marshal had stated that a new fire service water main and five hydrants will need to be installed by the developer.

"The required water supply for firefighting operations is inadequate," according to the letter from the Fire Marshal, who did not attend the meeting.

A condition of approval by the board will be complying with the Fire Marshal's requirements for the 960, 960A, 980 and 984 Tuckerton Road property.