Lawsuit opposes warehouse on Chesterfield golf course
CHESTERFIELD − Several neighbors have filed a lawsuit opposing both a newly designated rehabilitation area for a closed golf course and a proposed warehouse for the property.
Four neighbors formed the Save Old York group with the goal of nixing a warehouse project at the closed Olde York Country Club on 156 acres at 228 Old York Road.
Just before Christmas, Save Old York filed the legal action against the township committee and the township planning board, alleging the township improperly adopted an October ordinance approving an Old York Redevelopment Plan after earlier and formally declaring in May 2020 that the golf course is an area in need of rehabilitation.
Meanwhile, a private developer seeks to construct a warehouse and other facilities on the Old York property, including a warehouse building of more than one million square feet, according to the lawsuit.
Lawyer Timothy Duggan of Princeton represents Save Old York members Brett Anderson, Dawn Mason, Stacey Verdino and April Sette, all of whom live on or near Old York Road and the defunct golf course that closed in 2021 in part to declining income and memberships amid the pandemic.
The Chesterfield Township Committee designated the Old York Road golf property as an “area in need of rehabilitation” in May 2020 following a recommendation from the planning board and review by its professional planner. That township designation also has been approved by the state Department of Community Affairs.
Then following a public hearing Oct. 27 of this year township committee adopted an ordinance approving the Old York Redevelopment Plan.
The lawsuit alleges the township action does not conform to the township master plan nor to the state planning commission guidelines for warehouse locations and amounts to “spot zoning” from agricultural to commercial. One of the reasons the township cited is its fiscal revenue motivation for more commercial and industrial ratables to pay for township government services.
The redevelopment plan would allow “sprawl development of a giant warehouse on land zoned for agriculture in the middle of nowhere” and will adversely impact the township’s rural character, according to the lawsuit.
The site is more than two miles from Exit 7 of the New Jersey Turnpike.
The legal filing also contends the committee took action without determining the Old York Property was an area in need of redevelopment, noting the criteria for rehabilitation versus redevelopment differ.Rehabilitation encourages renovation or reconstruction of existing structures and allows a municipality to offer tax abatements on improvements. Redevelopment permits mainly new construction with some rehabilitation as well as setting land aside for streets, parks and other public needs, the suit says.
The lawsuit further alleges the defendants “misled the public by designating the Old York Property as an area in need of rehabilitation" when the ultimate goal was not rehabilitation but redevelopment and that they also did not want it known that the true purpose of the rehabilitation designation was for warehouse redevelopment so the public could not file a timely appeal.
Township solicitor John C. Gillespie, whose office is in Mount Laurel, denied the township did anything wrong in the entire process.
"The public is always free to challenge whatever they don’t like, but it does not mean their legal analysis is accurate. The township committee followed the law and made a decision that it believes is in the best interest of the entire community," Gillespie said.
Before the ordinances were passed Active Acquisition had made an informal presentation to the township to build a 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse on the former golf course owned by Three Putt, Inc., and to relocate the historic Black House, which dates to 1740, off the site.
On Dec. 15 the developer submitted its first major site plan application for warehouse construction to the planning board for review and a future public hearing.
More:Proposed warehouse at former Freeway Golf Course in Gloucester draws opposition
Massive warehouses have been popping up in recent years all over South Jersey, including in Burlington County.
There are now large warehouses along the Delaware River in Burlington City and township and others in Florence and Mansfield. Warehousing also is under construction on the former site of the Burlington Center Mall in Burlington Township near the New Jersey Turnpike and I-295.
More recently the Bordentown Planning Board approved a 301,400-square-foot warehouse at Route 206 and Old York Road.
Some warehouse projects have been rejected by local communities. In December, Westampton denied a warehouse development on farmland and adjacent property where there is a cell tower along Woodlane and Irick roads.
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 609-533-0306 or email ccomegno@gannettnj.com.
Support local journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Chesterfield neighbors file lawsuit opposing warehousing
