After more than six hours and more than 30 testimonies, the Cherry Hill zoning board unanimously rejected a use variance for the developer of a proposed 175-unit senior living facility at Holly Ravine Farm.
Caddis Partners LLC’s plan for the 23-acre farm near the intersection of Springdale and Evesham roads called for 85 units that would constitute independent living with supportive services, 66 assisted-living units and 24 memory-care units.
Caddis sought a variance to exceed the area’s 35-feet height limit by 6 feet. The zoning board’s vote to reject this – which came after its May 31 meeting stretched into the next day – was 5-1, with board member Greg Bruno the sole yes vote.
Board members also cited other reasons for rejecting the variance, often echoing residents’ concerns about traffic, potential disruption in emergency medical services and environmental impact
“I feel the negative criteria significantly outweighs the positive with this application,” said Bruno, despite voting yes on the variance. “I believe it presents a substantial detriment to the public good.”
He shared his concern about the approximately 100 employees and seniors who would leave the site at non-peak hours – when some drivers travel the fastest – and the danger to seniors of making a left turn onto Evesham Road. He also expressed concern about tractor trailers making turns from the development.
Bruno also reflected on an accident that happened in 2007, when a woman and a tractor trailer both attempted left turns about a mile from the Holly Ravine Farm.
Members of the public at meetings shared concerns about the project’s individual cost and what would happen if a resident became unable to afford the monthly rental amount. Caddis Representative Tami Cumings estimated that rents would be comparable to Brightview Greentree Senior Living in Marlton: about $5,100 a month for independent living, $6,800 plus for assisted living and $8,000 for independent living.
“The operator works with families when the resident moves in, the resident and their families to kind of determine what their budget is,” Cumings explained. “You can never predict obviously how long someone’s going to live or what they’re gonna need, but there are ways that we can work with them …”
Nonetheless, the zoning application drew wide opposition online. In late April, Eric Ascalon created the Save the Holly Ravine Farm Facebook group, now up to more than 650 members. Others who urged the zoning board to reject the variance application claimed the project would deviate from the town’s master plan.
Kathy Gilmour, whose family is selling the farm property, spoke in support of the development.
“Change is hard, believe me, this is harder for the Gilmour family than for any of you speaking out against the proposal,” she remarked. “These past decades have been emotionally exhausting, and the burden of caring for this farm has been overwhelming.
“It is time for the community that the GIlmour family so loved, to honor them by letting them move on.”
