Why some Cherry Hill neighbors are opposed to Land Rover dealer's expansion.

When the proposed expansion of a Land Rover dealership in Cherry Hill goes before the township zoning board Thursday night, a virtual crowd against the project is expected.

Because of COVID-19, meetings still are held as teleconferences rather than in person. In anticipation of neighbors testifying via computer or phone, the Zoning Board of Adjustment moved its meeting up to 6 p.m. — an hour earlier than normal.

M.B.J. Associates LLC, based on Route 70 at the Mercedes-Benz of Cherry Hill dealership, is asking for variances and approval of its site plan for a Land Rover dealership on Haddonfield Road across from the Market Place at Garden State Park. The dealership operated there for years before moving to temporary quarters on Route 70 across from the Old Orchard neighborhood.

» MORE: Details on an expanded Land Rover dealership.

But some living in the Locustwood neighborhood near the dealership strongly oppose the planned expansion and addition of parking lots for inventory and employee parking on the sites of two residential properties and the former South Jersey Women's Center.

"For all the problems they're causing in the neighborhood, is it worth it?" asked Dawn Higgins, president of the Erlton North Windsor Civic Association and facilitator for the Council of Cherry Hill Civic Associations, representing associations in 13 neighborhoods.

Higgins told 70and73.com that she would read a statement Thursday evening from the council of organizations to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The Locustwood Civic Association is a member.

Neighbors have written to Cherry Hill township officials, expressing their dismay, according to emails provided to 70and73.com under an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request to the township.

"This dealership belongs in an industrial park — not a part of Cherry Hill that is primarily a residential neighborhood. The proposal by Land Rover is outrageous," neighbor Marie E. Connors wrote in a May 31 email to Mayor Susan Shin Angulo.

“We need a balance between residential and commercial interests in Cherry Hill, NJ. Currently, it is grossly imbalanced in favor of business owners. This significantly reduces the property values for the homeowners in the Locustwood neighborhood. Is this fair and just? Would you allow this in the neighborhood in which you reside?” Connors asked in her note to the mayor.

Denise Tocco, who said she has lived on neighboring Mercer Street for 33 years, told the mayor in a May 20 email that in the past the neighborhood has had to live with a loud paging system, car alarms set off to locate vehicles, car carriers "running for hours outside my back door" and light pollution.

"Now Land Rover is moving even deeper into our neighborhood," she wrote.

Tocco wrote that she objected to the virtual zoning hearing on June 4 — it was later moved to this week — because "we cannot come out in solidarity as a neighborhood to have our voices heard."

J. Barry Dickinson, who lives on Fulton Street near the dealership, wrote: "This has to end. The area is already over-developed. It is about time that the governmental representatives of Cherry Hill stand up for the citizens and protect them rather than allowing commercial enterprises to do as they please. Stop being a rubber stamp!"

In his June 2 email to the zoning board and the mayor, Dickinson said streets already are congested with traffic. "This affects the quality of life of the residential citizens in this area. It is also a danger to the environment," Dickinson wrote.

The impacts on both the quality of life and the environment are two factors that zoning boards in New Jersey weigh in deciding whether to grant variances to applicants. Zoning boards are quasi-judicial and swear in everyone testifying, often noting that board members can consider only statements of fact and not opinion on projects.

"The excessive commercial development in this area of the township is ruining the quality of life of its residents. We can't get into and out of our neighborhood without experiencing traffic as if we live in a major city. We are bombarded with noise all day and night, light pollution in the evening, and put in danger by simply walking down our street," Dickinson wrote.

» MORE: See the zoning board's agenda and how to attend the meeting.

» MORE: Read the Land Rover proposal application documentation and exhibits.

James Greenberg, a lawyer at Duane Morris LLP in Cherry Hill, wrote to the board's attorney that his unnamed client objected to the virtual meeting. "Just so it is clear, we continue to maintain our position that anything short of an open, in-person, meeting does not comply with the law.  Virtual meetings are not permissible to satisfy existing requirement for the Zoning Board," he wrote.

Another neighbor, Carlos Ruthner, told the board in a May 20 email he was concerned about light pollution, impact on the environment, noise pollution and traffic congestion.

Ruthner, who lives on Mercer Street, said he believes the proposed 269 off-street parking spots will not be sufficient to store the dealership's new and used vehicle inventory, cars in for service as well as customer and employee parking.

"I believe that the current proposed plan is not adequate to suffice their needs, which will result in further encroachment (expansions, street parking and offloading of vehicles and service parts on public roads)," he said in his email.

M.B.J. Associates bought the site of the former South Jersey Women's Center at Haddonfield Road and Sherwood Avenue for $1,775,000 in January 2017, according to town property records. The building will be torn down and the site will become a parking lot for 76 vehicles in inventory, according to the applicant's plans.

The dealership also purchased two residential properties — 1200 and 1208 Wynnwood Ave. — in late 2016 for $250,000 and $270,000 respectively. The homes will be demolished and a parking lot with 46 employee spaces and 65 inventory spots would be built, according to the applicant's plan on file with the township.

"The area of Mercer Street on which I live is becoming one huge parking lot," Robert J. Sabatino, 75, a 33-year neighborhood resident wrote in a May 20 email to Mayor Angulo. He noted he is a U.S. Navy Vietnam veteran. "It costs me a lot of money for the privilege to live here and I intend to vehemently protect my investment. Wouldn't you?"

Noted Sabatino: "Long gone is the sweet smell of horse manure wafting across Haddonfield Road, from the former race track. Haddonfield Road was once lined with stately oak trees. These are remnants of days gone by — the good old days."