Are new businesses coming to the closed Friendly's at Marlton ShopRite/Petsmart center?

Carol Comegno, Cherry Hill Courier-Post
·3 min read

The owner of the Marlton Shoprite/PetSmart shopping center at Routes 70 and 73 is hoping the court system will allow it to bring in seven more businesses and replace a shuttered Friendly's with four of them..

Marlton UE (Urban Edge) , LLC, owner of the ShopRite/Kohl's/PetSmart center at the intersection of the two state highways, has filed a lawsuit against the Evesham Township Zoning Board seeking to overturn denial of site plan approvals with several proposed zoning variances.

Why is Evesham's Zoning Board being sued?

The lawsuit alleges the board improperly rejected final site plan for four businesses to replace Friendly's and revised preliminary site plan approvals for three other new businesses despite approving preliminary site plans a year ago. The legal action was filed in Superior Court in Mount Holly late last month.

In a narrow 4-3 vote in March, the Zoning Board rejected additional restaurants and other new businesses after raising land use ordinance and master plan concerns about a proposed reduction in the size of 161 parking spaces, increased signage, already congested traffic flow inside the shopping center and limited entrances into the center. One board member did not vote because he did not attend an earlier hearing.

The shopping center owner, one of many subsidiaries of Urban Edge Properties of Maryland and Delaware, said the disapproval was arbitrary and improper because its application conformed to township ordinance standards. It accused the board of basing its denial on "mere sentiments" by the public and board members, ignoring the conclusions of the applicant's traffic engineer and other experts.

The owner of this shopping center on Route 70 at Route 73 in Marlton has proposed an expansion with more restaurants and other new tenants there.
The owner of this shopping center on Route 70 at Route 73 in Marlton has proposed an expansion with more restaurants and other new tenants there.

However, after those board concerns surfaced at a February meeting, the owner/developer agreed to revisit them and partially revised its presentation at the March hearing.

Will First Watch and Cava come to Evesham?

ShopRite, Kohl’s, Petsmart and WineWorks are the anchor stores at the shopping center and face Route 70 along with Bank of America. Two restaurants, Shake Shack and Honey Grow, are at its eastern end closer to Route 73.

The proposed restaurants are First Watch, which serves breakfast and lunch, and the Mediterranean-style Cava, which features an extensive salad and pita wrap menu. They would become the corner anchors of four planned tenants after demolition of the Friendly's restaurant in what would become a 10,000 square-foot mini-strip center within the larger shopping center. Friendly's is also along Route 70 but closed in the summer of 2022.

Another First Watch, a breakfast and lunch restaurant, may be built on Route 70 in Marlton in South Jersey if the Shoprite shopping center owner wins a court battle to bring it and other new businesses there. First Watch has two other South Jersey locations in Cherry Hill and in Washington Township, Gloucester County,
Another First Watch, a breakfast and lunch restaurant, may be built on Route 70 in Marlton in South Jersey if the Shoprite shopping center owner wins a court battle to bring it and other new businesses there. First Watch has two other South Jersey locations in Cherry Hill and in Washington Township, Gloucester County,

The other two tenants for the Friendly's spot as well as three other tenant spaces totaling 6,456 square feet, which would have been built on a rear parking lot between Kohl's department store and the Honeygrow restaurant, had not been determined, according to Marlton UE representatives.

What are the shopping center's traffic access issues along 70 and 73?

One of the proposed traffic circulation changes was the addition of an entry driveway from Route 70 at the west end of the shopping center, where there is now only an exit driveway.

Vehicles can only exit onto Route 70 from WineWorks and PetSmart at the western end of a Marlton shopping center as shown in the photo. Lack of an entry driveway forces drivers heading to these stores to enter elsewhere, contributing to internal traffic congestion.
Vehicles can only exit onto Route 70 from WineWorks and PetSmart at the western end of a Marlton shopping center as shown in the photo. Lack of an entry driveway forces drivers heading to these stores to enter elsewhere, contributing to internal traffic congestion.

The applicant's traffic expert said this would allow better vehicle access to WineWorks and Petsmart and anticipated the state Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction along the highway, would approve it.

However, the Zoning Board decision noted there was no guarantee that would happen.

The state already had eliminated the Route 73 entrance to the shopping center when it realigned the intersection of the two state highways at the former Marlton Circle. That closure contributed to traffic congestion inside the shopping center, but local officials and planners have said it is doubtful the state would ever reopen it.

Carol Comegno loves telling stories about South Jersey life, history and military veterans for the Courier Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. If you have a story to share, call her at 856-486-2473 or 6509-533-00306 or email  ccomegno@gannettnj.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Why has ShopRite, Petsmart shopping center in Marlton gone to court?