Deptford Township has a number of areas it wants to focus on in the year ahead, including economic development; infrastructure improvements; and improved public safety, among other things.
Economically, the township hopes to attract new businesses to the area, as it also did last year.
“We were trying to introduce a grocery store to Deptford,” said Mayor Paul Medany. “We were able to get one in the form of Grocery Outlet. Residents were looking forward to it.”
The store – set to open sometime in 2025 – will go in the shopping center on Hurffville Road where other tenants include Harbor Freight and JOANN Fabric and Crafts.
New businesses are planned for the town center to accompany now-closed stores that include the Christmas Tree Shop and Harmon Face Values. The shopping area – on Deptford Center Road – lost a tenant when Bed Bath & Beyond shuttered its stores after declaring bankruptcy in 2023.
The shopping center will get a renovation to accommodate the new stores, which have yet to be named until they are verified by the planning board.
“Our goal is to bring good-paying jobs, good tax ratables and good businesses to Deptford,” Medany promised.
The township also will undergo a number of infrastructure improvements and begin other projects in the new year, the largest of which is the repaving and addition of drains at the Deptford portion of Delsea Drive that runs through the center of town. Work will begin in January and is expected to take about a year.
“The council has procured $2.3 million in grants for major road projects,” Medany explained. “These projects will also include improvements to Deptford Center Road, Locust Grove Boulevard and Village Boulevard.”
As for public safety, according to Medany, the police department recently hired four new officers and there will be more patrols in neighborhoods.
Municipal service departments will get new equipment, while water improvements and code enforcement are expected to ensure that neighborhoods are safe and clean and vacant properties are properly maintained.
“Every year, we try to eliminate programs that don’t work and make ones that do,” Medany noted. “We’re not afraid to try new things, make our neighborhoods safe and work on economic development.”
