CHERRY HILL COUNCIL VOTES ON APARTMENTS

Angela Couloumbis, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Despite a pending lawsuit seeking to block the township from condemning the Cherry Hill Apartments , the Township Council last night voted unanimously to take possession of the property on Route 38 and sell it to another developer.

The 41-year-old apartment complex was deemed "unfit for human habitation" in early August, and its 61 residents were evacuated and placed in other apartments in town. The two mid-rise buildings across from the Cherry Hill Mall were then shut down by the township fire marshal.

"The [actions] we undertook were time-intensive and responsible," said Councilman Bryen Barbell. "Responsible toward the tenants living in that squalor and responsible toward the community."

Last week, Charles Edwards, the Baltimore surgeon who owns the apartments , filed a lawsuit against the township seeking to stop Mayor Susan Bass Levin from going forward with declaring the site a redevelopment zone.

In an interview yesterday, Edwards, who did not attend last night's meeting, said he intended to expand the lawsuit, but he declined to say how. He did say that he believed Levin had planned to take over his property as early as May, but did not contact him about the building's violations until the August eviction.

He said Levin "has been adamant in cramming this [redevelopment] through."

At last night's meeting, which was attended by a handful of former tenants and a developer interested in the site, Levin said the township officials had told Edwards several times about their concerns over the buildings' condition - which led township, county and state agencies to cite Edwards for violations ranging from faulty lighting to dead animals on the premises.

Former tenants who attended last night's meeting sat silently during the public portion of the meeting. But one, Ann DeMaranis, said after the meeting that her silence should not be taken for indifference.

"I'm upset about this," DeMaranis said about her forced move. "But I just don't know what else to say."