Category: South Jersey

As concerns about surveillance cameras mount nationwide, Shamong Township is taking steps to limit the use of Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers.

Shamong Mayor Michael Di Croce introduced an ordinance Tuesday that would establish a one-year moratorium on automated license plate readers and other vehicle surveillance technology on township rights-of-way and on township-owned property.

Flock cameras capture the license plates and other vehicle features, like bumper stickers or dents, of each passing car and compiles them into a searchable database.

“Flock cameras basically create a surveillance system for people who have done nothing wrong,” Di Croce said at Tuesday’s township committee meeting.

“I am opposed and I hope that my fellow committee members will agree that we don’t need to create another surveillance system that tracks people and where they’re going,” he said, noting that location data is already collected through E-ZPass and cell phone GPS.

“We should not create a permanent or searchable record of where law-abiding residents drive merely because they happen to pass a government camera or in the case of Flock, private-entity cameras,” he said.

Di Croce also referenced recent high-profile issues surrounding Flock cameras including law enforcement misuse and system errors that led to a driver who was wrongfully pulled over and detained at gunpoint as even more reason to be wary of the technology.

“I’m not opposed to technology that helps the police solve crimes,” Di Croce said. “I’m opposed to turning Shamong into a surveillance community without demonstrating that the benefits outweigh the cost, violating our privacy implications with the potential for misuse and the loss of local control over our residents’ data.”

Shamong is not alone in its concerns about the use of surveillance technology.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has “real concerns” about Flock cameras and is open to considering a statewide ban on the technology, a spokesperson said this week.

In Montgomery County last month, Abington police decided not to renew their contracts with Flock after thousands of the department’s searches were leaked.

The ordinance is “just a statement that we don’t want these cameras in Shamong and we’re not going to have them on any township property,” Di Croce said.

Residents can weigh in on the proposed ordinance before the committee votes on its adoption on Oct. 6 at the Shamong Municipal Building.

One of Burlington County’s most popular public libraries is getting a major upgrade — its first in nearly three decades.

The Evesham Library in Marlton, part of the Burlington County Library System (BCLS), will be getting a new technology center and expand its children’s area and activity/meeting room as part of the $500,000 project.

“The improvements planned for the Evesham library will allow it to better serve residents of all ages and become an even greater resource for the community,” Burlington County Library Commission Chair Jonathan Chebra said in a statement announcing the effort.

Renovations are underway and expected to wrap up by the end of the year, the county said.

The library, which opened in 1998 as part of Evesham Township’s new municipal building complex, will remain open for visitors during the renovations.

The Evesham branch is the second most-used location in the BCLS, the county said, recording more than 215,390 checkouts in 2025. The Evesham location also has the second-highest active library users in the BCLS with nearly 10,000 active accounts.

“Evesham is Burlington County’s most populous municipality, so it’s absolutely essential that it continue to have a state-of-the-art library to serve the town and the surrounding communities,” Burlington County Commissioner Tom Pullion, liaison to the BCLS, said in a statement.

Half the funding for the project came from a $1 million state grant for capital improvements to the BCLS as part of the New Jersey’s 2023 budget. The library system matched the remaining $250,000 for the renovations in Evesham, the county said.

Burlington County’s main library branch in Westampton and the libraries in Pemberton and Cinnaminson will share the rest of the state funding, according to the county.

Pemberton branch’s renovation wrapped earlier this year and work on the Cinnaminson library is expected to finish in the fall, the county said. Meanwhile, renovations at the main branch in Westampton are still in the early stages of planning and design.

“Burlington County’s libraries are proven difference-makers and the investments we make to improve them directly benefit our residents and communities,” Burlington County Commissioner Randy Brolo said in a statement.

A developer that planned to build six homes on the site of the closed Barton Run Swim Club in Evesham would sell the property to the township to preserve it as open space, according to a letter of intent from the town.

The 3.84-acre property on Lakeside Drive would be cleared by developer Orleans Investment Land Associates and Evesham would pay between $670,000 and $810,000 for the land, according to the township, which on Wednesday announced it had secured a $405,000 New Jersey Green Acres Program grant to help fund the purchase.

Evesham has budgeted from Township Open Space funds the balance of the purchase price, which is a range because it requires a Green Acres appraisal, Zane Clark, Evesham director of public information, said in an email.

Township council authorized the letter of intent at its meeting earlier this month.

“Once formal closing proceedings on the property are completed, and the land is restored to open space, the Township will begin engaging the community so residents can help plan for the future uses at the new park,” Clark wrote.

Orleans would be responsible for demolishing the clubhouse and pool, filling the land and planting grass at the club, which closed about 10 years ago.

Clark said the township also is seeking grants to finance rain gardens on the site.

“By securing this Green Acres funding and approving this letter of intent, we are protecting the neighborhood from further development and creating new open space for the public to enjoy,” Mayor Jaclyn Veasy said in a statement. “Once the land is under municipal ownership, the Township will ensure its safe upkeep and long-term care,” she added.

In recent years, Evesham Township has been aggressive about acquiring land to preserve as open space.

Projects have included preserving 176 acres of the former Beagle Club property on North Elmwood Road and purchasing 18 acres from the Board of Education off Greenbrook Drive in the Country Farms neighborhood.

However the town’s landmark preservation project, announced earlier this year, was the $15-million acquisition of 835 acres next to the Black Run Preserve by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. After the purchase, the township will assume ownership and oversee the preservation of the land. The Black Run Preserve, also owned by Evesham, covers 1,300 acres.

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