The Evesham Board of Education recently began the process of asking the state what district-owned lands are allowable for potential sale.
Evesham Township Council’s recent meeting saw every member of council speak against any potential rezoning of several pieces of vacant land owned by the Evesham Township School District at the Country Farms housing development.
Council spoke against the potential rezoning after fielding questions, phone calls and emails in past weeks from concerned residents who believed the school district had plans to sell the land for the potential development of additional housing.
That belief stemmed from an agenda item at the Board of Education’s most recent meeting where the board applied to the state to determine if it would allow any potential sale of several properties the district owns throughout the township.
The district did not approve or discuss any specific sale of open lands at the meeting, with board president JoAnne Harmon characterizing the vote as part of a “multiple-step process” where the district would “explore potential opportunities.”
Regardless, many residents of Country Farms have continued to voice opposition to any potential sale by the district, with Patrick Carney speaking on behalf of several Country Farms residents at last week’s council meeting.
Carney said the families and children of Country Farms, along with those who play sports under the Marlton Rec Council, regularly enjoy the district’s 18 acres of land at Country Farms.
“Country Farms is united against this,” Carney said. “We have launched a website and petition, which of last count had 769 signatures from current Country Farms residents, township residents who have used the fields and even from some former residents.”
Carney also said he filed an Open Public Records Act request to review an appraisal the district commissioned on the land last year in which the apprising organization noted a zoning official with the township had already discussed the plausibility of rezoning the land from institutional to medium density.
When Carney brought the note to the attention of Evesham’s director of community development Nancy Jamanow, she said no such conversation between the township and an appraiser took place.
“I asked her (the appraiser) to review her records and she did and she found no record of who she spoke to,” Jamanow said.
Jamanow also noted that with lands the size of those owned by the BOE at Country Farms, she would recommend any zoning issue go before council for a full rezoning of the land rather than have the issue brought before the Zoning Board for a use variance.
Mayor Randy Brown said he would ”unequivocally” never vote for any rezoning of Country Farms.
Brown also criticized the district for adding the agenda item dealing with open lands only hours before the meeting where the board was voting whether to keep Evans Elementary School open beyond this summer.
“Unfortunately, the actions that occurred two weeks ago should have occurred. There should have been transparency,” Brown said.
Deputy Mayor Steve Zeuli also said the use of the fields at Country Farms went well beyond the use of Country Farms residents, and he too would be against any rezoning.
“I got to believe, in the long run, by the time the board of education gets done looking at the actual value of it and the loss of recreational value and open space, it’s going to speak for itself,” Zeuli said.
BOE vice president Sandy Student, who was present at the council meeting, said he believed the district is also restricted from transferring ownership of Country Farms to any entity other than a public entity due to the nature of how the land was originally granted to the district.
