DEP Decision Makes Woodcrest Nonviable, Owner Says in Appeal

A state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) decision more than a year before Woodcrest Country Club’s bankruptcy auction is now at the heart of two lawsuits, including one from the developer that paid $10.1 million for the property.

First Montgomery Group, whose owners said their plans included “maintaining a premier golf club” at the site following the bankruptcy auction, is now adding its voice against the DEP’s move to exclude the property from sewer service, claiming the decision blocks development and renders the club nonviable.

While the course is zoned for institutional use—which would allow a narrow window of development, including for medical or educational uses—the April 2012 DEP decision, which went into effect this summer, hamstrings First Montgomery Group, according to the developer’s appeal.

The appeal comes after the Fair Share Housing Center also challenged the decision, citing Cherry Hill’s need to fulfill nearly 2,000 affordable housing units under the Mount Laurel doctrine—something also cited in First Montgomery Group’s appeal.

Though township and county officials have said they remain opposed to any kind of development, including the residential development suggested by the appeals, First Montgomery Group officials haven’t said much—if anything—about their plans, and couldn’t be reached for comment on the appeal.

Though the developer initially re-launched the course by calling it “The Village at Woodcrest,” that moniker—and any inferences that could’ve been drawn from it—disappeared soon after the club reopened as a $125-per-round daily-fee course.

Matthew Haydinger, one of the owners of First Montgomery Group, indicated after the sale that ownership wanted to “maintain the integrity of a private club with a semi-private structure” and had long-term plans to keep it a golf course, but didn’t comment on anything beyond that.