In a move that Cherry Hill officials hope will allow owners to apply for open space preservation funds, the Township Council is reviewing an ordinance to expand the Township’s Agricultural-Horticultural Commercial (AHC) Overlay Zone by nearly 250 acres.
The new ordinance – introduced at the Council’s Feb. 10 meeting – arrived one week after the Township Planning Board approved the 2025 Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP) to safeguard parks, trails, and open spaces. The plan updates the OSRP from 2011.
On Monday, Cherry Hill Mayor David Fleisher teed up the new zoning ordinance as the Council meeting got underway.
“On the agenda this evening Council is taking action to expand the Township’s Agricultural-Horticultural Commercial Overlay Zone, creating the opportunity for future open space preservation,” said Fleisher, who began by first congratulating the Philadelphia Eagles for their Super Bowl victory the night before.
Cherry Hill’s current AHC Overlay Zone applies only to Holly Ravine Farm – a 26-acre farm at 350 East Evesham Road sold to the Township in January 2024 for nearly $3.9 million to preserve as open space.
The Township used a combination of state and county open space preservation funds to finance the deal.
Cherry Hill currently has approximately 1,392 acres of protected open space throughout the Township, according to the Mayor’s Office, and is looking to add more through initiatives like the AHC expansion ordinance.
If the ordinance is approved, the AHC zone will expand to include Springdale Farm at 1638 Springdale Road; Springhouse Farm at 1631 Springdale Road; McNaughton’s Garden Center at 351 Kresson Road; and 200 Evans Lane, a vacant lot that sits on 8.31 acres. Combined, the four properties would add 248 acres to the zone.
“This ordinance formalizes the existing agriculture and horticulture uses of these properties and will enable the property owners to apply for farmland preservation funding in the future,” Fleisher said in a statement after Monday’s Council meeting.
“Without the official overlay, the land is not eligible for state or county farmland preservation funding.”
The farms affected by the new ordinance – including the McNaughtons’ 13-acre farm on Kresson Road, where 60 percent of their garden center product is grown – say the ordinance would provide an extra layer of protection. The farm, founded in 1929, has stayed in the McNaughton family for three generations.
“It allows us to continue farming without any interference from any residents because we are secured agriculture,” said Garden Center Manager Tom Measey. “We run a lot of machinery here.”
In addition to the 10-acre garden center, the farm also offers landscaping, irrigation, and lawn care services.
“(An expanded AHC zone) allows us to continue to promote agriculture in the area,” said Measey, who’s worked for the McNaughtons for 24 years.
”We’re in a residential area but this farm was here before the houses were. We were grandfathered in as agriculture. As far as zoning or noise or trucks or whatever, it protects us to operate.”
Mayor Fleisher said the new AHC Overlay Zone would not change or supersede the current zoning regulations for any of the four properties being included.
The Township Council will hold a second reading and public hearing on the proposed expanded AHC ordinance on March 10 in the N. John Amato Council Chambers.
