It might only be a six-foot wooden slat fence, but for the neighbors of the Methodist Church graveyard on Lee Avenue, it feels more like a coffin. One resident, however, is challenging a ruling on a legal level.
The reality for the Lee Avenue neighborhood came to life two weeks ago as a 6-foot fence was successfully installed along property lines bordering the Methodist Church graveyard. The fence replaced a 100-year old chain link fence that had previously bordered the graveyard.
The fence was approved by the members of the Haddonfield Planning Board at a meeting in December, despite a recommendation from the Haddonfield Historic Preservation Committee to deny the request.
All of a sudden, said MaryAnn Campling, a longtime resident of the neighborhood, the homeowner’s once lovely view of the cemetery was long gone, replaced with six-foot high fence.
“It doesn’t hit you until you actually see it, it’s overwhelming,” Campling said, fighting back tears as she called The Sun to report that the fence was up on March 14.
This past week, Campling hired Cherry Hill attorney Allen Zeller to represent her in appealing the case to the New Jersey State Supreme Court.
Campling said she will be shouldering the financial burden by herself and the church would be served with papers in the next week or two.
“I had some money put aside for a nice vacation,” she said, when asked how she would afford the attorney’s services. A friend said she would also host a fundraiser to help Campling afford the legal fees.
It’s a David vs. Goliath like scenario, Campling said, but she remains guardedly optimistic about the outcome of the appeal.
The Rev. George Morris, pastor of the Haddonfield Methodist Church, was contacted and said the church went through correct and legal due process for the installation of the fence and would not comment further.
For the past 10 months, the residents of Lee Avenue have been trying to get anyone to listen about the new fence, which the Methodist Church had notified them of through a mailing campaign.
Throughout the process, Campling — and several other residents of the neighborhood who did not wish to give their names for fear of reprisal from the church — have been petitioning the borough, the planning board and the church itself to reach some kind of compromise.
So far, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears, they say.
Phone calls to the church haven’t been returned, Campling said, and even Commissioner Jeff Kasko’s inquiries have been rebuffed.
At a public meeting in the beginning of March, Kasko said he was having a difficult time contacting someone from the church to discuss the problem and to see if there was a compromise that could be reached.
But until then, the fence remains behind the properties of Lee Avenue, leaving the residents to wonder what will happen next.
“We should have been able to sit down with the church and just talk about this,” Campling said as she looked at the fence. “We’re neighbors. This is a church and we tried to do things the right way with them.”
