CHERRY HILL, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — The landmark Cherry Hill Diner may soon have a date with a wrecking ball.
The Cherry Hill Planning Board Tuesday night approved a developer’s proposal to demolish the iconic restaurant to make way for a car wash. The plan by PJ Land Development, LLC calls for a Tidal Wave Auto Spa with a drive-through car wash building and 24 self-service vacuum stations.
Since 1965, the diner at the Church Road Circle on Route 38 has served up omelets and Greek salads. Longtime customers of what was once called the Windsor Diner bemoaned the potential loss of a place where memories were made.
“This was a nice spot for us and as a teenager, all the teenagers would go here,” said one customer who declined to give her name.
“They had the little jukeboxes in the booths. It was just a nice place to gather, and it will sorely be missed.”
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“If it’s been here for that long, I mean, it’s clearly doing something right,” customer Arslan Blut told KYW Newsradio. “It’s kind of part of the community as well,” he said.
Residents questioned the need for another car wash in the township, especially when the Auto Shine Express car wash is right across Cooper Landing Road from the diner.
Planning board members pointed out that a car wash is a permitted use for the site.