Back in the late 1980s, Scarborough Associates received
approval to develop land at the corner of Greentree Road and North Maple
Avenue.
When they received approval,
there was a non-binding agreement that they would rehabilitate an old house located on the property (pictured below).
Plans to
develop the site included a car repair shop, and it was tentatively named
Evesboro Center.
In 1990, Scarborough allowed those plans to lapse and the center was never built.
From 1994 through 1995, Burlington County Public Works widened
Greentree Road. To do this, they acquired land along the existing Greentree Road. As a result, a few old houses in the way of the widened road were demolished, An old Victorian style-home, built in 1900 in the American Four-Square style, was moved back
from the roadway and put up on stilts in September of 1994.
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| American Four-Square style home, built in 1900, shown in 1995 |
Beginning in 1996, Scarborough Associates again applied to
develop the site. As original designed, the Maple Tree Center
was to be 107,000 square foot commercial strip, anchored by a 66,000 square
foot Acme. Also included was a 16,000
square foot strip mall, a Jefferson Bank, La Petite Academy Day Care Center and
a 14,000 square foot Walgreens. The old house was expected to be relocated on
the site and converted into an office for property management.
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| Neighbors were complaining about the dilapidated old house |
The plan was met with opposition by nearby residents as well
as the owner of the adjacent Crispin Square Shopping Center. For nearby residents, they were fearful of the
additional 3500 cars per day on nearby streets, that estimate coming from the developer. They also pointed to
two nearby supermarkets that had recent closed and remained empty – the IGA at the
corner of Greentree and Route 73 (which eventually became Whole Foods) and
Price Slashers at Plaza 70 (which now houses Produce Junction).
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| The dots showing Crispin Square and Maple Tree Center are actually reversed |
For Crispin Square, aside from not wanting the competition,
they maintained that the development went against zoning regulations for the ‘Neighborhood
Shops’ zone. During the 1980s up until
1993, the zone had a maximum store size of 20,000 square feet, but that cap had
been removed on 1993, based on fear of lawsuits from developers. The zoning board referred the matter to Town
Council, and recommended adding the 20,000 square foot cap back into the
regulation.
Over the next several years, the matter was heard several
times at the zoning board and the planning board and in Burlington County Court (who referred the matter back to Town Council), but no decision was
made. The developer reduced the planned size
of the proposed Acme to 55,000 square feet in January 1998, and reduced it
again to 47,000 square feet in May, 1999, and still was unable to win approval,
despite threatening legal action.
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| Ad placed by private citizens urging attendence at Planning Board meeting in 1996 |
Eventually the project was scrapped and the land was subdivided. Half of it became a
shopping center with freestanding Arby’s and CVS, which opened in 2007, with a
Republic Bank added in 2018. The other
half was developed as Brightview Greentree Assisted Living, which opening in September
of 2011.
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| Original Maple Tree Center land parcels |
The old house is gone.
I was unable to determine when it was demolished. (
UPDATE 9/2020: The house was demolished in February 2002. Photos of the demolition can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/AViewFromEvesham/posts/558841971373896 )
Scarborough Properties maintained that their agreement to save the house was contingent upon them getting approval for their original Maple Tree Center project. By the time approval was received for the much smaller CVS/Arby's project, my guess is that the house was too far gone to save. It was still on the site in 2002, but was gone by 2006 when the property was cleared of trees to build the CVS and Arby's.
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| House in 2002 (Photo Courtesy of HistoricAerials.com) |
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| House is gone in 2006 (Photo Courtesy of HistoricAerials.com) |
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| Arby's opened in August 2007 |
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| Brightview opened in September 2011 |
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