MOUNT EPHRAIM - The borough has purchased a former parish complex at the center of a potential redevelopment area.
The municipality paid $770,000 for the former Sacred Heart property between Kings Highway, Black Horse Pike and West Buckingham Avenue, according to Mayor Michael "Traz" Tovinsky.
Borough officials hope the parish complex, along with some adjacent properties, could one day hold a grocery store, the mayor said at a meeting of the borough's Joint Land Use Board.
"We're just looking forward to selling the place and bringing in some cash," said Tovinsky, who added a prospective developer has offered to clear the site.
A store at the site could generate $130,000 in annual property taxes and support from 20 to 40 jobs, he added.
The parish complex includes a long-vacant church and parochial school, as well as a former rectory, a garage and a smaller building that served as the site's original worship center in 1939.
The Camden diocese closed the parish, then known as Emmaus Catholic Community of Mount Ephraim, in 2014.
A report prepared for the Joint Land Use Board suggests a 2½-acre redevelopment zone that could include four nearby homes — one on Kings Highway and three on Buckingham Avenue.
It also would encompass the site of Tony Roni's, a pizza shop at the corner of Kings Highway and Black Horse Pike.
Antonio Carollo, owner of the restaurant property, expressed resistance to the proposal.
"I don't want to sell," said Carollo, who's owned the property for 42 years.
The sale of the parish complex took effect Aug. 31, borough officials said.
The July 30 report identified the parish complex as being owned by the Camden-based diocese.
But a diocesan spokesman said the site "never belonged" to the diocese.
The former parish was its own corporation until a merger with St. Rose of Lima parish, noted the spokesman, Michael Walsh.
"Therefore, at the time of sale, the property was owned by Saint Rose of Lima parish," he said.
The board's report found the site met the qualifications for a redevelopment zone, including one that would allow the use of condemnation to acquire properties.
The board on Monday voted unanimously to recommend to the borough commission that the properties should be designated as a redevelopment area.
According to the report, the commission will decide on the specifics of a redevelopment plan "with Land Use Board participation."
Jim Walsh covers public safety, economic development and other beats for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.
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