Haddon Heights loses a landmark bank, as its business district continues to evolve

Station Avenue was awash in hair salons when George and Melinda Wise opened their jewelry store there in 1983.

But the Haddon Heights business district on “The Avenue” has long since evolved into a more eclectic array of locally owned shops, restaurants, and services.

The prospect of an unprecedented mixed-use development, the continuing search for a buyer for John’s Friendly Market, and the planned closure of a PNC bank branch have raised concerns about the future of the borough’s commercial heart.

Changes also are afoot at a longtime rooming house property two blocks farther south on Station Avenue.

The man at the bench of Wise Family Quality Jewelers Inc. on the 500 block near the White Horse Pike is taking a long view.

“The direction of The Avenue has been up. It’s been positive,” said George Wise, who’s 78, loves his job, and has no plans to retire. “We don’t have many empty stores. And when we do, they don’t stay empty long.”

Soon to be empty: A landmark at the busy corner of Station and East Atlantic Avenue that’s been a bank — under a series of names and owners — for more than 100 years.

In a Nov. 11 letter, PNC advised customers that its Haddon Heights branch will close Feb. 16 and consolidate with the Haddonfield branch. The Haddon Heights building dates to the early 20th century, when the borough was being developed as a planned “railroad suburb” of Camden and Philadelphia.

The building is among the largest commercial structures in the business district, said Realtor Daniel White Jr., whose office is adjacent to the bank’s drive-through lanes.

“I’m told the basement has very high ceilings, as does the first floor,” said White, whose firm is not involved in the future of the site.

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White is, however, handling the sale of John’s, the grocery store, deli, and Haddon Heights institution on the 600 block of The Avenue. “A number of interested parties” have looked at the property since it went on sale last summer, he said.

The sisters Grethe Pole and Josie Doto, whose father was the late locally revered grocer and store namesake John C. Johnson, said they’re determined to find a buyer who will maintain store’s homespun charms.

“Rumors are going around that someone has bought it already,” Pole said. “But we’re still trying to find someone to keep the store the way it is.”

A proposal to build a $3.5 million, 12-unit apartment building with as much as 3,900 square feet of retail space on the southwest corner of Station Avenue and the White Horse Pike sparked a grassroots “Save Our Historic Character” campaign, as well as fierce opposition, around town.

Preservationists and others argue that the proposal would mean squeezing an oversize structure into the streetscape, exacerbate what is already regarded as a shortage of places to park, and sacrifice a long-vacant house of historical significance.

“This whole redevelopment thing is out of control,” said Mark Standring, a longtime member of the preservation-minded Heights Heritage League.

“Things that are special about Haddon Heights can be quickly lost if there is not a more tempered approach taken,” he said. “There isn’t a blanket need for redevelopment. There are some choice areas that might benefit.”

The Haddon Heights Borough Council approved a redevelopment plan for the site of the project Nov. 8. The Philadelphia firm Broken Ground Properties still must submit a final site plan for public hearings and reviews by the borough’s Historic Preservation Commission as well as its planning/zoning board.

The site plan also is subject to approval by the mayor and council after a public hearing.

“There are a lot of differences of opinion about the proposed building, but I believe it will be a tremendous asset to that whole stretch of Station Avenue,” said borough council president Chris Morgan, who also serves on the historic preservation commission.

“We are going to continue to listen to and take their opinions into account in the final design,” said Anthony Gioielli, co-owner with Gary Farrell of Broken Ground.

After securing permits to demolish the house and an adjacent commercial structure, the developers hope to break ground early next year, Gioielli said. Construction of a stormwater management system to mitigate heavy rains that sometimes cause street and sidewalk flooding on the 500 block will be part of project as well, he said.

Wise said his shop had been threatened by flooding often enough that he keeps sandbags handy.

The building will provide six on-site and six off-site parking spaces for tenants, Gioielli said.

Mayor Zachary Houck, who last month was elected to a second term, said the development would boost foot traffic and provide space for new small businesses on Station Avenue. He said he supports historic preservation generally but is convinced that Haddon Heights “needs to create a more vibrant downtown.”

The mayor also said that despite the inconveniences of the current construction, Camden County’s $4.7 million project to resurface and re-stripe Station Avenue and add “bump-out” sidewalk extensions at the intersections of Station and Atlantic will calm traffic and promote pedestrian safety in the business district.

For decades, a mansion on the 800 block of Station that once attested to the borough’s elegant aspirations has been used as a sanitarium, a nursing home, and most recently, a 14-person rooming house.

Now, a proposal to restore and repurpose the structure as a supervised residence for 10 male participants in a faith-based rehabilitation program is generating opposition from some local residents.

» READ MORE: Longtime South Jersey rooming house is for sale, leaving its residents in limbo

The Interfaith Homeless Outreach Council (IHOC) is asking the borough to consider the new facility a continuation of the rooming house, a nonconforming use that was grandfathered in when the borough zoning code was amended to ban rooming houses in 1971.

“IHOC is not going to make it into a homeless shelter,” said Eric J. Riso, who is representing the nonprofit group.

After two postponements, a zoning board hearing on the request is scheduled for Dec. 19, Riso said.

Jeffrey Baron, an attorney in Voorhees who is representing opponents of the proposal, did not respond to an email or voice mail left at his office.

Wise, the jewelry store owner, is more concerned about making sure customers leave his store with a smile than worried the PNC property will be vacant for long.

“Parking has been a big issue for a long time, and it’s going to get worse” once the apartments and new storefronts are occupied, he said.

“I hope [the developers] address the parking and the drainage,” he said. “Other than that, welcome aboard.”