Dear Sturbridge Lakes Homeowners:
Two serious issues have arisen regarding Evesham Township properties located near Sturbridge Lakes. As a result of resident concerns, we anticipate the Voorhees mayor and other township committee members and officials, will attend our SLA Board meeting this Wednesday, March 7, at 730 PM in the Signal Hill School Library. I highly recommend that residents attend this meeting to hear from our township officials regarding the first issue:
1 Property adjoining Antietam Road and Chasemoor Drive has been leased to a hunting association. This has raised concerns about firearms being carried and fired close to our homes. Also, although this property is private, it’s possible for children or pets to wander back there and possibly to be harmed. The hunters have been using our streets to access the property. We believe our township officials will discuss a couple of ways this can be addressed.
2 The township officials are not attending to address the following new issue, but it needs to be discussed by residents as well.
We have heard numerous reports of plans to build a major housing development in the Evesham Pinelands near Sturbridge Lakes. It’s possible such a development could result in the ultimate development of properties adjacent to our neighborhood.
Any such development plan would likely need approval from the NJ Pinelands Commission. Therefore, residents who wish to influence such a plan would need to become actively involved with the Pinelands Commission and other groups.
Our concerns about a development include: Loss of natural lands and wildlife which are a major resource, possible traffic into our neighborhood, and various noise, light and other pollution issues.
Over the last months, the SLA was approached by an adjacent land owner, asking if we were interested in obtaining some of the Evesham property as common grounds. This raised multiple issues and it’s not clear the Association would want to be responsible for land in Evesham Township, which we might not even be able to physically access.
Nonetheless, I attempted to quietly negotiate with the landowner’s attorney, to see if SLA or some other group could purchase the property.
I was not able to get the owners to state a price for the land. In response to a very modest suggested price by me, the answer came back that the owners now wish to seek the “development value” of the land. Therefore, I do not believe the land can be obtained by us at a reasonable price at this time.
If residents are concerned about this development issue, they will need to organize in order to influence Evesham Township and the Pinelands Commission.
I don’t know if it’s realistic that we or Voorhees Township could obtain any of these lands as a buffer for Sturbridge Lakes. We are just beginning to address this issue.
At the Wednesday meeting we will discuss the hunting issue first. When that topic is completed, we can briefly discuss the development issue. It may be that individual residents will have to take the lead on these issues.
3 It has been my experience that a development next door to Sturbridge can bring our residents together to meet the challenge. That was the result of the Lowes/ BJ’s development, on which Sturbridge Lakes had a significant impact. Please consider attending our Wednesday meeting and becoming involved in these matters.
