Business & Tech

Business Owners Team Up to Address Redevelopment Concerns

'We're a group of people just looking to defend their livelihoods,' says Cinnaminson Riggins owner John Feghali.

John Feghali and his fellow business owners aren't looking for a fight. They're just worried.

Feghali, owner of Cinnaminson Riggins, and others have formed a small coalition of business owners who are coming together over concerns with the township's potential redevelopment plans.

The formation of the group comes on the heels of last week's decision by the planning board to recommend that large sections of the township along Route 130 be designated as areas in need of redevelopment.

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Feghali understands the township's interest in making Cinnaminson more commercially vibrant and redeveloping properties that are "rundown or not maintained properly," he said. "(But) I maintain a nice, clean property. There's no reason to come and ruffle people's feathers."

The board had the option of selectively recommending certain properties for redevelopment, while leaving others—like Riggins—out, but ultimately decided to be broader with its recommendation. 

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Which is why Feghali and his fellow business owners—some in the recommended redevelopment area, some not—are on edge.

"They've got an investment and they don't want anybody to come in and take it away from them," he said of the loose group of so far seven entrepreneurs, including Tony Scotto, owner of Tony's Pizza, and Ali Dadyan, owner of Paula's and Pearle Vision.

Dadyan said redevelopment is a double-edged sword of sorts—it could be good or bad news for a business—and its usefulness all depends on who's wielding the sword.

"If their intention is good, it's a wonderful thing. It can open up a lot of doors," he said. "If somebody has an agenda, that makes a difference."

Though Dadyan said he trusts the township's leaders aren't trying to threaten his livelihood—"I believe if I am presenting a service to the town, the town would be on my side"—he, like Feghali, still can't entirely shake the uneasy feeling the redevelopment designation gives him. 

Fegahli and Dadyan both mentioned eminent domain as one of their concerns. 

Mayor Ben Young, who sits on the planning board, reassured business owners at last week's planning board meeting the township has only ever invoked eminent domain once—to clear the site where the Shoppes at Cinnaminson were built of deed restrictions, with the consent of the landowner—and has no intention of doing it again. 

"This is not a committee that's interested in usurping the property rights," he said.

Feghali's and Dadyan's concerns do appear to have some weight however. According to attorney Douglas Heinold, planning board solicitor, when land is deemed an area in need of redevelopment, per state statute, it grants certain powers to the governing body—one of them being the ability to invoke eminent domain. 

Governing bodies can of course use eminent domain outside of a redevelopment area, but "there always has to be a public purpose involved," explained Heinold, who provided examples such as a street-widening project, or adding sidewalks or creating a new street.

When land is deemed as an area in need of redevelopment, the redevelopment itself is recognized as a public purpose in the context of eminent domain, he said. 

However, whether that could lead to existing businesses being squeezed out for more attractive ratables—as Feghali fears—isn't a question Heinold could answer, nor is it on the township's plate.

Young stressed the township has no specific agenda, and said the redevelopment designation—assuming township committee accepts the planning board's recommendation—is intended to "create opportunities (businesses) might not have otherwise."

"If somebody (has) the idea that there's somebody sitting in the wings waiting to do something, they're wrong," he said. "There's nothing."

Nonetheless, Feghali said he and other like-minded business owners will be at the May 20 township committee meeting—at which the committee will discuss the board's recommendation—to present their concerns. He said they plan to hire an attorney to address the issue on their behalf.

"We're stronger as a group. I hope this is just the beginning of hopefully an association that grows in members," he said.

"We're not looking for a fight," Fegahli added. "We're just a group of people with their hearts in the right place just looking to defend their livelihoods."

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