Medford homeowner David Faulkner was blunt on Wednesday night when he told the zoning board that he did not want to see a 972-unit storage facility built at the bend in the Old Marlton Pike, near Route 70.
"It's like a beached whale in my yard," Faulkner, who lives on Muirfield Court, said of the proposed building.
Several residents opposed the 119,151-square-foot storage facility on 4.4 acres proposed by Fieldstone Associates, which developed the Barclay Chase at Marlton apartment complex across Route 70, off Evesboro-Medford Road in Evesham.
At the end of the Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting, the developer's representatives asked that the application for variances and site plan approval be continued to a future meeting so they could adjust plans for the three-story storage building.
"We have to work on the architecture, which includes the height," the developer's lawyer, Pat McAndrew, told the board. The application was moved to the June 15 meeting, with amended plans due by June 1. Public testimony can continue at the June meeting.
David Clelland, who lives on Old Marlton Pike next to the site, said his view will be box trucks backing into the storage docks, with their incessant beeping.
"It's just way too big for that lot," he told the board.
The dogleg curve of Old Marlton Pike just before the Route 70 intersection. The storage site is on the left.
The developer's representatives told the board their marketing studies show that, as apartments and homes have been built in recent years, the demand for storage space is outstripping supply.
But Timothy Stauss, of Bellwether Court, said he checked with two storage outlets in the area and found they have vacancies. He likened the proposed building to "dropping an Acme (supermarket) on that little corner."
"Is it for the residents of Medford or is it for the residents of Marlton?" he asked. "It's not for us. It's not needed."
Several residents, and even some board members, showed confusion over the plans. Dawn Augustino, of Old Marlton Pike, contended the developer's representatives had inconsistent testimony during the meeting. And, she said, they did not discuss the impact of the building on residents.
Arthur Corsini Jr., a partner at Bridgewater-based Fieldstone, told the board that 95,000 square feet of the total 119,151 square feet would be rented. The facility would have elevators and be climate-controlled, said Corsini, who noted Fieldstone already operates two storage facilities, in Pennsylvania and North Jersey.
Fieldstone representatives testified that a storage facility, although not permitted by zoning laws on the property, would have less of a traffic impact than permitted uses that include offices, banks, hair salons, fast-food and standard restaurants, health spas and assisted living.
An application for a smaller self-storage facility on the property by the developer was approved by the board in 2004, but it was never built because of the 2007-09 economic recession, the developer said.
The project requires several variances, including the size. A building of up to 35,000 square feet is permitted and a 41,217-square-foot footprint is proposed, according to the application. The building height permitted is 2.5 stories, but the storage center would be three stories. However, overall height permitted and planned is 35 feet.
The three lots, outlined in yellow, on Old Marlton Pike in Medford.
