Route 73 development

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=946820" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="1a500640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Arial" ><B>Voorhees Environmental and Recreational  Alliance</b></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B> </b></FONT><B>    |     </b><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Voorhees Environmental and Recreational "><U><B>home</b></U></A></div> <bR> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=155 BGCOLOR="#666699" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Township Purchases Lafferty Parcel"><U><B>Township Purchases Lafferty Parcel</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Read all about it"><U><B>Read all about it</b></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=380 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Route 73 Development</b></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="626" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1283 WIDTH="622"><div> <B>Plan for old Voorhees plant raises dander of neighbors</b><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" > </FONT></div> <div>  <A NAME="by_steve_levine"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>By STEVE LEVINE</div> <div> Courier-Post Staff</div> <div> VOORHEES</div> <bR> <div> A BJ's Wholesale Club may rise at the site of the former Atlas concrete plant, a dusty, degrading </div> <div> relic off Route 73.</div> <bR> <div> Plans filed with the township this month have sketches of five buildings, one of them a large "big box" megastore that officials say may be a BJ's - a national retailer whose customers pay for discount </div> <div> shopping.</div> <bR> <div> Taxes from the nearly 30-acre site between William Feather and Signal Hill drives could bring </div> <div> hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, offsetting local purpose and school taxes, officials say.</div> <bR> <div> But many neighbors fear traffic, lights and noise from the shopping center will disrupt the private </div> <div> Sturbridge Lakes community behind it.</div> <bR> <div> The site has not been a functioning concrete plant for years. A broken chain-link fence encloses </div> <div> the property. The buildings are surrounded by piles of abandoned concrete block and marked by </div> <div> broken windows and graffiti.</div> <bR> <div> During a township committee meeting Monday, at least 50 neighbors protested the site plan,</div> <div>  which was not on the agenda. Some accused Mayor Harry Platt of working with the developer to </div> <div> bring the project in.</div> <bR> <div> "Sadly, this ... is an administration more concerned with developers than its citizens," resident Ed </div> <div> Ferruggia said.</div> <bR> <div> Ferruggia said Platt courted development even though he knew many Sturbridge homeowners would </div> <div> oppose it.</div> <bR> <div> "The truth of the matter is this administration is acting as it wants, hiding behind the 1998 master </div> <div> plan," Ferruggia said.</div> <bR> <div> Platt said at the meeting and in private that neither he nor other officials had helped the developer </div> <div> more than they would any other interested builder.</div> <bR> <div> A retail center is permitted at the site and the township cannot reject the plan simply because some </div> <div> residents oppose it, he said.</div> <bR> <div> "They seem to feel we can ignore land-use laws or that we can control what stores come in," Platt </div> <div> said. </div> <bR> <div> He also said reopening the master plan in response to the site plan could be considered spot zoning </div> <div> and expose the township to a lawsuit.</div> <bR> <div> Some residents want the site salvaged for open space.</div> <bR> <div> Committeemen Frank Sansone, Gary Finger and Platt said they would consider a review of the </div> <div> portion </div> <div> of the master plan that deals with the Route 73 corridor but such a review would not likely affect the application before the township.</div> <bR> <div> "We're a little late in the process," Sansone, who helped write the master plan, acknowledged. "The </div> <div> plan is here. The big box has arrived."</div> <bR> <div> Going against the tide at Monday's meeting, resident Jeff Senges defended the mayor and said </div> <div> residents may have to accept the inevitable.</div> <bR> <div> "The property is zoned for this use," Senges said. "Sooner or later something is going to be done </div> <div> on this property. Let's make sure whatever is put there is sensitive to those who live near it."</div> <bR> <div> The planning board is expected to review the site plan in January but no date for a hearing has been </div> <div> set.</div> <bR> <div> The site's owners, Stafford Family Park Partners in Marlton, did not return a call for comment. </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>