Preliminary plans for a Wal-Mart and the approval of Lifetime Fitness along a busy stretch of Route 73 and Fellowship Road have been greeted with a mixed response from area residents.
The proposed Wal-Mart store, which will be 89,000 square feet, received preliminary approval from the planning board in July. After completing a set of requirements, representatives will seek approval in a future planning board meeting with a public hearing yet to be determined.
A group of concerned citizens recently created a community Facebook page titled, “Protect Mount Laurel.” As of publication date, the group had 59 “likes.”
Members of the page have shared links about the accountability of the company, conversed about the need of having a Wal-Mart when there is another in a nearby town and have spoken of rallying at township meetings to voice their opinions.
The Mt. Laurel sent a request to residents to weigh in with their thoughts via our Facebook page.
“I am absolutely devastated about the Wal-Mart,” emailed resident Laura B., who wished to withhold her full last name. “That area has so much traffic to begin with that I can’t begin to imagine the nightmare that this will bring.”
Laura added that the company has a “dark history of corrupt and bullying business practices” that she would never support.
Resident Susan Duffield believes that an alternative would be worse.
“I think the immediate neighbors need to look at the bright side fitness center and small retail stores,” she emailed. “The proposed Wal-Mart will need final approval and public meeting. Would the immediate neighbors rather swap locations and have 120 affordable housing in their backyard? Keep the affordable housing at the Marne Highway and Centerton Road.”
Officials from the township met with the county on Wednesday, Aug. 15 to discuss potential remedies for the area’s traffic.
“The meeting went well and the township will formally be requesting the county to perform a traffic study in the Fellowship Redevelopment Area in order to determine the most appropriate traffic calming measures to be evaluated,” explained Township Manager Maureen Mitchell.
But for one resident, a bulk of the issue lies in the retail store brand being brought into the township.
“If anything would get me to move from this town that I love, it would be this,” Laura said. “I am heartbroken about this, a company with this kind of strong-armed reputation coming into our town and bringing with it the accompanying issues, traffic and the such.”
“I just can’t stomach it,” she added.
Mayor Keenan and officials from the planning board have said that developments with approved usages without any major variances are able to move forward with the process. Neighbors can object, but the planning board can only address the concerns, not stop the progression.
According to Keenan during a July phone interview with The Sun, the Wal-Mart store will be “a lot smaller” than the 140,000 average square foot supercenters that many people imagine.
Mt. Laurel planning board meetings are generally held on the second Thursday of each month, beginning at 7 p.m. in the courtroom at 100 Mt. Laurel Road, Mt. Laurel.
