Cherry Hill Reaches Agreement With ARS To End Lawsuit Over Masonic Lodge Site

Cherry Hill, NJ – Cherry Hill has reached a tentative agreement with Advanced Recovery Systems (ARS) to purchase the Masonic Lodge property on Haddonfield-Berlin Road to preserve as open space, Mayor Chuck Cahn announced on Monday.

The township and Camden County would buy Advanced Recovery’s Agreement of Sale with the Masons for $300,000. They would then purchase the property itself from the Masons for $1.4 million.

The township and the county plan to demolish the site’s existing building and preserve the parcel for open space and recreational use.

Cherry Hill Council was scheduled to vote on the agreement at its meeting Monday night. The proposal would then go for a vote before the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders on Thursday night, Dec. 15, at the Wayne Bryant Community Center, 323 Charleston Avenue in Lawnside, 7 p.m.

If approved, the agreement ends a lawsuit filed by ARS over the summer. In the suit, ARS was seeking “default approval” for the project, which would’ve put a residential healthcare facility on the site.

The building is next to Cherry Hill’s Brookfield neighborhood. The facility would have directly abutted dozens of single-family homes, as well as Little League fields, Cahn said.

Officials were concerned about development of any kind at the site, because of how close it was to the neighborhood and the fields. There was also concern about the addition of traffic to an area that is already very congested.

The agreement will also help to revitalize the long-vacant Baker Lanes property on Cuthbert Boulevard, Cahn said.

If the agreement is approved, ARS, which had proposed a residential healthcare facility at the Masonic site, will be designated as the redeveloper for the Baker Lanes property.

“This agreement achieves the best possible outcome for our community, our residents, and the various stakeholders involved,” Cahn said. “It protects the integrity of our neighborhoods, preserves open space, and eliminates blight within the township.”

ARS first proposed its facility at the Masonic site in February. The township immediately began working together with ARS to identify a more suitable location for the project, Cahn said.

After ARS filed the lawsuit, both the Cherry Hill American Little League and Brookfield residents expressed their concern, Cahn said.

“We have heard a great deal of concern from residents worried about the impact of any new development, and we have promised from day one to do everything in our power to protect their neighborhood and residents’ quality of life,” Cahn and Council President David Fleisher said in a joint statement. “The community remained engaged and in contact with us throughout the process, and their cooperation is an incredible example of the progress that can be made when citizens and government work with each other to achieve a positive result."