Wawa at Route 73 and Cooper Road rejected by Voorhees Planning Board; Cooper traffic big issue.

Voorhees Township has said "no" to a Super Wawa proposed near the intersection of Route 73 northbound and Cooper Road.

Concerns by Planning Board members and the public over already-congested traffic on Cooper Road defeated a developer's plan at the September 10 board meeting to construct the Wawa with gasoline pumps on the Voorhees-Berlin border. The plan was due to go to Berlin Township for review in October.

Board member Maureen Augustine abstained from voting, leaving the board with a 3-3 vote, which denied the application from NIKI-J&J Voorhees Cooper Partners LLC, owned by the father-son team of James Angeloni and Jeff Angeloni.

When pressed by the developer's lawyer for the reason for her abstention, Augustine said: "I'm concerned for the public safety at that intersection."

"I have a hard time keeping that on my conscience," she added.

The Wawa is a permitted use for the property under Township zoning law and the developer was seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval.

The developer's lawyer, CherylLynn Walters of Nehmad Davis & Goldstein of Egg Harbor Township, acknowledged the matter could end up in court.

"You don't have the legal authority to deny an application for a permitted use," she told the board.

Traffic that already severely backs up on Cooper Road leading to Route 73 during busy hours dominated the Super Wawa discussion, with both the board and the developer's representatives saying that the traffic problems fall under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Department of Transportation and Camden County and neither historically has shown an interest in solutions.

If built, the Super Wawa would have a long driveway leading from Cooper Road and another on Route 73, according to the plans. Several said they envisioned frustrated drivers waiting on Cooper Drive using the Wawa driveway as a cut-through to drive north on Route 73. 

"It's a disaster...the traffic backs up all the way to the entrance of Forrest Hills Drive," resident Harry Garabedian, who lives on Forrest Hills Drive, told the board. "There's nothing that Wawa is going to do that's going to alleviate that; it's only going to add to the burden."

Drew Inselman, another Forrest Hills Drive resident, told the board that he would be "directly impacted by this in every which way."

"If we're saying that we care about Voorhees, this to me is the biggest hindrance to Voorhees," he said.

Traffic now backed up on Cooper Road already uses Forrest Hills Drive and many exceed the speed limit, Lisa Earle said.

"Wawa is going to kill us. It's going to kill us," she told the board. "Now you're going to put a crappy Wawa right there to lead all of your cars into our neighborhood."

Board member Jason Ravitz, also a member of Voorhees Township Committee and deputy mayor, also spoke of the traffic jams on Cooper Road.

"This road already backs up during rush hour," he said. "This is going to be a real issue in the operation" of a Wawa.

Ravitz criticized Wawa for not showing up at the meeting, instead leaving its representation to the developer that wants to build the site for a Wawa.

"I wish Wawa was here," Ravitz said.

"It boggles my mind they wouldn't show up, even a district manager to talk to the residents. ...it does show some level of ignorance," he said.

Inselman, who said he works for a large retail chain and is involved in representing it at similar meetings for new locations, said he was surprised Wawa representatives did not attend the meeting.

"They don't care about the community," he said.

Previous 70and73.com coverage: Super Wawa proposed for northbound Route 73 near Cooper Road intersection on the Voorhees-Berlin line.