At its most recent public meeting, Cherry Hill Township Council gave its final consent to an ordinance whose new language seeks to correct existing terminology relating to state-mandated standards for stormwater management on any future land development.
Passage of the ordinance during the Feb. 22 virtual session means those who want to apply to the township to build on a piece of land are compelled to abide by updated rules and regulations from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection that were codified in early 2020.
Two weeks prior, Township Business Administrator Erin Patterson Gill explained that any time the municipal government wants to make an amendment to a zoning ordinance it first needs to be referred to the planning board for review. No changes were recommended by the body at its previous meeting on Feb. 16, paving the way for council’s approval.
If the board recommended significant alterations, Gill said, council would have had to readopt the ordinance and have another first reading before proceeding.
“Before the planning board could make these recommendations from New Jersey DEP, we could only recommend that applicants do some of these new things. Now, this ordinance makes sure they have to do them,” said councilwoman Carole Roskoph.
Council also introduced and passed upon first reading two additional ordinances intended to make two high volume intersections safer for drivers. Both involved the transfer of small parcels of land from the township to Camden County to facilitate widening of the roadways.
The first project is expected to be the creation of a right-turn-only lane from westbound Kresson Road onto Brace Road, for which 0.23 acres would be set aside for construction.
“This was the subject of a public hearing before the NJDEP, which allowed this because there was a public-safety initiative involved, since this area is a high-crash area,” Gill stated. “From 2014 to 2016, there were 87 crashes at that intersection, 60 percent of which were rear end (collisions).”
Lending its support for the project was the Cherry Hill Environmental Board, which was represented at the hearing and is in agreement with the reconstruction on public-safety considerations.
The second project is expected to be the creation of a right-turn-only lane from southbound Evesham Road onto Haddonfield-Berlin Road, for which 0.3 acres will be ceded.
“This has been planned for a long time, prior to even the transfer. It was contemplated back even when (the land) was Woodcrest Country Club, before it was sold back in 2014,” Gill explained.
Council President David Fleisher noted the crossing was “probably the most complicated” intersection in the whole of Cherry Hill, to which Police Chief William “Bud” Monaghan agreed.
Both ordinances are scheduled to be discussed, with input from the public if warranted, at council’s next public meeting on March 8.
In other news:
- Council continued to formally recognize residents who were given the Camden County MLK Freedom Medal back in January. Chris Bruner was honored with a proclamation, read by council members Roskoph, Brian Bauerle and Mayor Susan Shin Angulo.
- In addition, a proclamation for Laura Williams, an author and descendant of Sgt. Isaac Woodard Jr., a decorated World War II soldier who was a key actor in the nation’s early Civil Rights movement, was read by council members William Carter, Michele Golkow and Angulo.
- Five residents were named to full term positions with the planning board: Ann Madden Tufano, Tina Truitt, Alise Panitch, Richard Rivera and John Chung.
