Developer 'Deceptive' About Woodcrest Plans, Officials Say

Echoing comments they made months ago, before the country club ever went to auction, Cherry Hill township officials took a shot at developer First Montgomery Group’s recent appeal of a state decision excluding Woodcrest Country Club from sewer service, calling the new owners “deceptive” and “disingenuous” for hiding what officials say were the true intentions behind the group’s purchase of the property.

“We stand firm in our commitment to fight and do everything in our power to keep this site from being developed,” said Mayor Chuck Cahn, council President David Fleisher and the members of the Cherry Hill council in a joint statement. “This 165-acre site must be preserved as open space for future generations.”

Though First Montgomery Group’s leadership, which runs several apartment complexes in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, indicated it had long-term plans to keep Woodcrest as a golf course, albeit as a semi-private club with public access, the appeal filed against a 2012 Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approval of a plan to exclude most of the property from sewer service indicated the new owners no longer believe the club is a viable investment without additional development.

But township officials said the sewer exclusion—shown on a March 2012 draft plan as a swath of white along the Cherry Hill-Voorhees border—is nothing new, and should’ve been obvious to anyone bidding on the property.

“The property has been excluded from the proposed plan for years, which First Montgomery knew prior to its bid,” township officials said. “The township and the county repeatedly indicated before the auction that development was not appropriate on this site, in part because there was no sewer service available.”

The appeal of the DEP decision runs counter to what First Montgomery Group officials said were their original plans, Cherry Hill officials said, and exposes the real plans for the property.

“Now that First Montgomery's deception has been revealed, we want to assure you that we will continue to fight, on every front, to protect and preserve one of our community’s largest and last remaining pieces of open space, and prevent development of this historically significant and environmentally sensitive property,” township officials said.

That includes challenging the notion put forth by the developer’s appeal that there are only a handful of acres of wetlands on the 178-acre property, they said.

“We know the property’s environmental and historical importance goes beyond just a mere measure of wetlands,” Cherry Hill officials said. “We are not taken in by First Montgomery's disingenuous appeal, and we are hopeful that the court will recognize First Montgomery's self-serving actions as an attempt to improperly develop land that should stay green forever.”

County officials have, likewise, voiced their opposition to development at the course, citing everything from a potential nightmare at the Haddonfield-Berlin and Evesham roads intersection to the damage to what is already limited open space in the area.

“Over my dead body will this precious property be destroyed in favor of high-density development,” freeholder Jeffrey Nash said previously. “I’m appalled and offended that the sale of the Woodcrest Country Club would be viewed as an opportunity to build high-density housing on a historic Camden County green space.”

First Montgomery Group representatives declined to comment on the appeal or the comments from township officials, though they indicated they’ll discuss the situation “when the time is right.”

For more on this story, read:

• DEP Decision Makes Woodcrest Nonviable, Owner Says in Appeal
• Woodcrest Development? "Over My Dead Body," Freeholder Says
• The Village at Woodcrest Will be Public Golf Course, Developer Says
• Woodcrest Country Club Sold to Developer
• Woodcrest Country Club Closed-Door Auction Draws Members' Ire
• Cherry Hill Will Make a Play for Woodcrest Country Club, Officials Say
• Woodcrest Country Club Goes to Auction May 20
• End Comes for Woodcrest Country Club