Former site of the Clover Florist, 1017 Church St. in Mount Laurel, which may be turned into a senior living care development.
Public testimony on Wednesday night derailed any decision by the Mount Laurel Zoning Board of Adjustment on proposed variances for a developer that wants to build a four-story senior living facility on South Church Street.
Last month, the board heard from developer Allegro Development Company Inc. and several members of the public. But the meeting ran to 11 p.m. and was adjourned until Wednesday night when a zoning decision on the project was expected.
That was, until members of the public took the microphone to testify.
Alison Keating, who lives in the Birchfield development near the property, testified she had filed a public records request with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for any information on pollution at the site. Those records reached her last Friday and, she testified, showed the DEP had no record of pollution at the site.
The testimony by Keating, who is a lawyer, resulted in confusion with the board because the developer's representatives in February testified pesticides and heavy metals used in the agricultural business formerly at the 1017 South Church St. parcel had polluted the land and groundwater, requiring remediation.
During the February meeting, the board and its professional advisers said the clean-up of such pollution might make development of the land for any other purpose cost-prohibitive.
But Keating's testimony put the brakes on the meeting.
"Clearly there's some confusion," said board member John Francescone. Somebody's right, he said, but that needs to be determined.
MORE: Details on the Allegro proposal
MORE: News article reporting on first Zoning meeting about Allegro
The meeting was fully derailed when a member of the public testified that temporary zoning board member Michael Pfeiffer had commented favorably on the Allegro project on the Mount Laurel community Facebook page. Pfeiffer, a member of the township Planning Board, was filling in for ill and absent zoning board members.Â
A break was called and the zoning board's attorney met privately with Pfeiffer. After the board came back into session, Pfeiffer recused himself from participating. The meeting then was continued to April's zoning meeting or to a special meeting before then.
Allegro has asked for a variance to deviate from current zoning, which is R-3 and allows only single-family dwellings at the land, the former site of the Clover Florist and garden center. Allegro also needs permission for its complex to average 48 feet in height, or 4 stories, which exceeds the current zoning maximum of 35 feet or 2½ stories.
The complex's rental units would include: 96 for independent living, 53 for assisted living and 21 for memory care patients who have dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
Local residents who testified said a four-story complex among their single-family homes is not a good use for the land. One resident said, if built, it would look like a "monstrous whale."
Rendering of the front of the proposed Allegro senior assisted living facility on Church Street in Mount Laurel.Â
