A vacant property on Route 73 southbound in Voorhees that once held a furniture store and was going to be developed into a LIDL food market now will become a Tesla dealership and service operation.

The Township Planning Board last week formalized its decision to approve preliminary and final major site plans proposed by Drake Voorhees LLC of Denver for the 14.9-acre site bounded by Route 73 and Lafayette Avenue. Close Realty LLC of Boca Raton, Florida, owns the property.

A 27,436-square-foot Tesla sales and service facility with 423 parking spaces will go on about seven acres of the property facing Route 73. The remaining acreage will continue as wetlands and riparian buffer at the rear of the property, according to the Planning Board resolution.

The car dealership is a permitted use in the Major Business Zoning District.

During the board hearing, Alex Sherman of Lafayette Avenue testified against the development, raising traffic concerns.

A “LIDL supermarket at the subject property (proposed) approximately five years ago…would have generated three times the amount of projected traffic as the proposed Tesla dealership,” according to the board resolution.

Access to the dealership will be right-in and right-out driveways on Route 73 and through two full-movement driveways on Lafayette Avenue.

In the resolution, the board stated that Voorhees Township will request that the New Jersey Department of Transportation prohibit left turns from Lafayette Avenue to Route 73 in the future.

The resolution states that no tree removal is required because the site is being redeveloped. Drake will provide 1,000 landscape plantings, including 42 trees and 55 evergreen shrubs, the resolution notes.

Board members also asked for architectural design changes for the building and Drake agreed. About 19% of the building will be occupied by the dealership with the balance service operations.

The hours of operation would be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. No more than 20 to 25 employees will be working on any given shift.