PEMBERTON—A lengthy back-and-forth between Pemberton Township and what has been the last remaining tenant of the Browns Mills Shopping Center, Elly’s Premium Laundry, has ended with the closure of the business’s township location following an eviction by the township.
“Thank you for the years of support, but we are now closed permanently,” read a handwritten message on yellow notepad paper, taped to the storefront window. “Our other location is still open on Hanover Street, in Pemberton Borough.”
The message was signed, “Elly.”
A banner in the storefront window announced that the laundry’s closure date was Oct. 19 and directed customers to its location at 209 Hanover Street, Pemberton Borough, NJ 08068.
Any remaining tenants of the Browns Mills Shopping Center were previously promised by council to be relocated into new storefronts as part of a project to redevelop the center, which was supposed to be done in phases.
But council reneged on that relocation commitment (made previously when the council was still under Democratic control). And a redeveloper, New Horizons, received Planning Board approvals to redevelop the center into Pemberton Commons, a plan that reportedly did not call for such a transition.
It led the laundry’s proprietor, “Mr. Elly,” to seek the purchase of the vacant Browns Mills Emergency Squad building a short distance away, but Mayor Jack Tompkins, who controls municipal property, refused the sale.
Members of council then maintained they would approve such a sale if it was brought to them, and initially stood by Mr. Elly in his quest to prevent eviction, even encouraging him to bring a lawsuit.
Mr. Elly also alleged that the mayor was interfering in his other attempts at purchasing land elsewhere in the township to be able to relocate his business.
However, after one eviction deadline extension given by council had passed (the township has owned the shopping center since 2019, having obtained it through eminent domain), the legislative body did not renew it amid increasing public pressure to redevelop the long-blighted center with concerns the redeveloper was about to walk away from the table.
Instead, the late township solicitor pursued landlord-tenant proceedings against Mr. Elly, in which a court-approved agreement was reached that required Mr. Elly to vacate the premises by Nov. 16 of this year.
The initiation of the landlord-tenant action was called into question since council held no official, specific vote to proceed with it. But the now-late Township Attorney Jerry Dasti had pointed to council having not extended the eviction deadline for a second time as the approval that was given for him to proceed with a legal filing.
Mr. Elly – an elderly businessman who at one point during the drama had experienced a medical emergency in publicly scolding the mayor during a council meeting – then returned one last time to council chambers to congratulate the then-attorney and mayor on his being evicted, but made clear he was casting blame on the mayor.
He also detailed how he was to be provided with a weatherproof storage unit so that his machines would not be damaged from moisture, having previously claimed he had nowhere to go and relocate his machines.
Resident Joe Anderson, during council’s latest Oct. 15 meeting, after questioning when Mr. Elly had to vacate the premises (receiving an answer of Nov. 16), caused Council President Matthew Bianchini to reveal that “once he is out, then things will start moving with Phase One” of the redevelopment project, though he added, “Maybe not immediately,” but then he expressed his hope it would happen before snow season starts.
Tompkins, in acknowledging Mr. Elly had posted a storefront sign announcing his closing date, declared “I would really like to get ready now so that we can move forward on that.”
The mayor noted he already talked to Public Works about disconnecting the unit’s utilities, but pointed out, “We can’t do any of that until we get the keys to the building.”
It is unclear as of press time whether Mr. Elly has officially turned in those keys.
The mayor, during the Oct. 15 council session, then pointed to his belief that the “fifth amendment” to the redevelopment agreement for New Horizons is “still hanging out there.”
Township Clerk Amy Cosnoski responded it was “approved and signed,” but Tompkins expressed surprise, remarking, “Was it? I thought we didn’t do that. My bad.”
Resolution 241-2025 was passed back on Aug. 6, per the council’s meeting minutes, “to amend the agreement with New Horizons for the shopping center,” in which Dasti at the time said “they could get a silent partner, but wanted to bring in someone for 50 percent, so we are amending this to allow that, and the existing developer will stay on there.”
In July, there was disagreement between the mayor and at least one member of council, when the amendment was referenced, after it was revealed a supermarket chain had pulled out of the project and that a Tractor Supply might be under consideration instead, with concern arising over what impact that retail outlet could have on a locally owned hardware store across the street from the proposed project.
Cosnoski, in later checking into the agreement’s status in response to a newspaper inquiry, provided the aforementioned resolution, signed by the Clerk’s Office in signifying it had passed, but noted she found “the agreement on the electronic copy is not signed.”
“If I remember correctly, this was sent to the developer for signature, and I am not sure if that went back to the Solicitor’s Office,” she added. “I will see if the Solicitor’s Office received a signed copy back from the developer.”
This newspaper received no further word as of its deadline time.
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