By MELISSA DIPENTO
At last night’s council meeting, Cherry Hill Mayor Bernie Platt updated residents on the ongoing concerns neighbors have voiced about the Solid Rock Worship Center at 99 Burnt Mill Road.
About a month ago, the Cherry Hill Police Department came to the mayor with concerns about burglaries in the Ashland neighborhood, Township spokesman Dan Keashen said. At the time, the police department had evidence that the burglaries were connected to an individual staying at Solid Rock.
The township has also been contacted by concerned residents and held a meeting on Tuesday, March 22. The meeting was scheduled to be held in the former fire administration building, but was relocated to Solid Rock when about 80 residents showed up.
At last night’s council meeting, Platt assured residents the township is continuing to look into the matter.
“At this point, we have found a number of issues. One is from a zoning perspective. Under their current certificate of occupancy, they cannot run the Nehemiah corporate offices out of this location,” Platt said.
Platt said the township also learned that the church may potentially be renting out rooms, which Keashen said, violates the zoning ordinance.
“Second, because of a November Facebook post advertising rooms for rent, I have asked DCA, the Department of Community Affairs, to come in and do a full inspection of the property,” Platt said. “Third, we have notified Pastor (Amir) Khan that if he is renting to anyone on the property, it makes the property a boarding house. This would violate state statute.”
The mayor will provide a status update on the issue on Thursday, April 7 at 7 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Horace Mann Elementary School, 150 Walt Whitman Blvd.
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