A representative of the residents of the Legacy Oaks community in Evesham used town council’s Sept. 15 meeting to once again voice concerns about the potential of “back end” exit to be built with the Barclay-Chase at Marlton apartment complex along on Route 70.
Nestled between Route 70 and Evesboro-Medford Road, the nearly 260-unit apartment complex would form a u-shape around the Public Works complex along what was formerly known as the Aristone Tract near the Evesham-Medford border, and would also contain 6,000 square feet of retail space.
It’s the Evesboro-Medford Road access that worries those in Legacy Oaks, as they believe left turns out of the potential back exit would bring increased traffic and would negatively impact the residents of Legacy Oaks less than half a mile down the road.
Legacy Oaks resident Jack Lynn, the representative to speak at the meeting, said his community was disappointed with a lack of communication between township officials and those at Legacy Oaks, starting with when the project first surfaced when Lynn said township officials communicated there would be no back exit.
“On our own initiative, we discovered when we saw the plans at a township meeting that there was in fact a back exit,” Lynn said. “We were never informed of that, like I said, until we saw it with our own initiative.”
Lynn said his community was disappointed it was unable to convince the involved parties that there was a need for no left-hand turn exit coming out onto Evesboro-Medford Road from the Barclay Chase project.
“I feel that I would not be fair to our community and remiss if I did not point out that the communication was lacking,” Lynn said.
Mayor Randy Brown took issue with Lynn’s comments, and noted the project is “ever-evolving” and the township is months if not years away from any project actually coming to fruition at the site.
“There’s a lot of other moving parts to that project back there, and we know there are multiple moving parts that still have to somewhere land where they’re going to land,” Brown said.
Brown also reiterated council’s belief that there should be a traffic light at the exit, and the township would direct its traffic engineer along with its other engineers to investigate that possibility when the time comes.
“Why you guys continue to insist in coming and saying as if a left-hand turn is going to be there literally tomorrow I don’t quite understand,” Brown said.
In May, council approved developer Fieldstone Associates for the Barclay Chase at Marlton complex. The developer also built the Marlton Gateway Apartments along Main Street where the township’s old municipal building once stood.
Director of community development Nancy Jamanow said the township has not received any news of when the developer plans to look for final approval for Barclay project.
