Suggested changes to the proposed Sterling Ridge Estates, and news of some progress with residents in opposition, came out during last week’s well-attended continuation of public hearing that re-opens Thursday, July 23.

Local residents who have voiced opposition to the 26 Cherry Hill Road housing complex are concerned that it is out of character with the Canoe Brook National Register Historic District.

The company proposing the complex, 26 Cherry Hill Road, LLC, originally received Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) approval for the project in 2007, but zoning changes in the years since required the proposal to be updated for compliance.

The amended proposal, discussed on July 9 by Cherry Hill Attorney Bernard Pellegrino, “eliminates those non-conformities,” he said.

He said the plan has also been altered so that it is “...a more suitable plan with less site disturbance; more sensitive environmentally and more suitable for pedestrian and vehicular access.”

The company also has been in discussion with neighbors and an attorney for one of the area homeowners. So far, requests such as a vegetative barrier along the property line; increasing a conservation easement along wetlands on Main Street to the south to include an area in the ridge line in the middle of the property as undeveloped, with future conservation easement; and a deed restriction limiting a split-off, single family lot to remain as such in perpetuity, are all concessions the company is prepared to make, Pellegrino said. Other issues are still being discussed with neighbors.

The three-story complex would be built on land in the Canoe Brook Historic District, within sight of Canoe Brook Senior Center and abutting property of the historic Harrison House. On behalf of Cherry Hill Road, LLC, licensed engineer Al Wolfgram detailed revisions to the plan for the PZC on July 9.

The revised master plan eliminates three units and a parking area and driveway proposed in the area behind an existing house to the west, which 26 Cherry Hill Road, LLC, is now proposing be retained and split off as a single family lot, with the aforementioned deed restriction that it be developed in future as nothing more than single family residence.

With lingering concerns voiced by some residents attending the July 9 public hearing, the PZC moved to continue the hearing to July 23. Residents have raised concerns including quality of life issues, the need to preserve the Canoe Brook National Register Historic District’s character, dissolution of a natural buffer that’s help preserve the neighborhood, long-term environmental impacts, overloading drainage systems, and safety issues. The public hearing will be part of the regular July 23 PZC meeting, 7 p.m. at Canoe Brook Senior Center.