Push To 'Save' Cherry Hill Farm From Development Hits Pivotal Juncture

CHERRY HILL, NJ — The township made past attempts to purchase long-prized Cherry Hill farmland that could become home to a senior-living complex. But the township's low offer was among the issues the Gilmour family says it faced in the decades-long effort to save the Holly Ravine Farm.

Texas-based developer Caddis Healthcare Real Estate is set to go before the Township Zoning Board with its application to build the senior development, which would consist of 175 independent- and assisted-living units. Although the matter is in the zoning board's hands, several residents pleaded to Township Council to find a way to preserve the land.

"This application is a travesty, and I hope it doesn’t go through," resident Eric Ascalon said at Monday's council meeting. "But at the same time, I feel so bad for this family and everything that they’ve gone through. They deserve to be compensated. This is a treasure. If this is developed, it’s gone forever."

Council members remained mostly mum on the potential development, as zoning laws hinder their ability to weigh in on the pending hearing before another governing body. But Council President David Fleisher revealed Monday that the township made efforts to purchase the property — especially during Mayor Chuch Cahn's administration. (Cahn was mayor from 2012-19.)

"Unfortunately, the owners of the property rejected those offers," Fleisher said. "But the township did try to purchase the property."

Robert Gilmour — part of the family that's owned the land for generations — says they received a prior offer that left much of Holly Ravine untouched. Township officials, however, blocked the sales out of concerns about adding traffic to the area. The township then only offered to buy the property for one-third of the prior offer's value, according to Gilmour.

"I’m sure most of you reading this would refuse to accept an offer for 1/3 the market value of your home," Gilmour said in a letter that his daughter, Bonnie, shared Tuesday with the Save The Holly Farm Ravine group on Facebook.

Holly Ravine Farm created decades of childhood memories, with the Cowtail Bar opening in 1933. The ice cream parlor closed in 1987, but the farm remained John and Eva Gilmour's home.

John Gilmour — a dairy farmer who served as mayor from 1963-71 — died in 1993. When Eva died in 2011, the family decided to try and preserve the property, Robert Gilmour says.

The Gilmours contacted the New Jersey Farm Preservation Committee and worked with them for almost a year, he said. But ultimately, the farm didn't meet the committee's model for a working farm. The family then hoped the township would preserve the land, but officials said they couldn't do so, according to Robert Gilmour.

With multiple preservation attempts failing, they put the property on the market.

"Very quickly a buyer came to us with an offer to put 26 upscale retirement homes on the property," Robert Gilmour's letter said. "This offer met the Township's zoning requirements and would have left a large portion of the farm untouched. However, this offer was not acceptable to the Township because of the potential added traffic to the area."

Several buyers showed interest throughout the years, Robert Gilmour said, but the township's stated traffic issues ended negotiations. Now, Caddis represents a potential purchaser.

The proposal from Caddis would leave about 20 of 26 acres undeveloped, including the ravine and stream that inspired the farm's name, Gilmour says.

The zoning board must determine whether to grant several variances to the developer, including a variance to build a residential zone. See the documentation here.

But residents advocating to maintain the property believe the land can be put to better use. For instance, township resident Martha Wright believes planting grapevines could preserve the greenery while aiding Cherry Hill's economy.

"Were Cherry Hill able to acquire that land and plant grapevines," Wright said at Monday's council meeting, "we could produce something really different and leverage that as another reason to visit Cherry Hill and South Jersey."