Business & Tech

It's Official: Iron Hill Coming to Ardmore

The township approved a liquor license transfer request on Wednesday night, clearing the way for the bar and restaurant to open in Ardmore Plaza.

With a group of agitated neighbors sitting and watching, the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners voted 9-2 last night to approve a liquor license transfer that will allow Iron Hill Brewery to open a new location in Ardmore Plaza.

Before the votes were cast, there was a spirited public comment. Attending members of the Ardmore business community came out uniformly in favor of bringing the restaurant to Greenfield Street, while a loose coalition of south Ardmore neighbors, led by church leaders, reiterated their firm opposition.

"My parishioners have to run for their lives sometimes to cross the street," said Zion Baptist Church pastor James Pollard, suggesting the addition of a new 10,000-square-foot, 250-seat restaurant would only worsen area traffic problems he says are already unbearable. "Is there anyone who would want to live in a situation like this?"

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Pollard closed by asking the commissioners to consider the Golden Rule, which drew an emphatic "Amen" from a sympathetic crowd member. Bethel AME Ardmore and Bryn Mawr pastors Albert Johnson and Carlos Rounds expressed similar sentiments.

The business community, represented by members of the Ardmore Initiative and the Ardmore Business Association, said the community had long tried to get a restaurant of Iron Hill's caliber into Ardmore, and turning them down now would send a clear message to other prospective restaurateurs: Lower Merion is anti-business.

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"It's sad to see members of the community take such a hard-line against Iron Hill," said Ardmore Business Association president emeritus Nancy Gold, who went on enumerate the advantages of allowing the restaurant to move in; among them jobs, upscale clientele, and an increased tax base. She added that opponents of the restaurant seem to like the idea, but "not on my block."

Iron Hill did agree to a set of concessions in the weeks before the vote. In a meeting between restaurant and Ardmore Plaza representatives, Lower Merion Building and Planning director Bob Duncan, commissioner Lindner, and community leaders, the restaurant said it would take steps to quell concerns about parking and security. For starters, Ardmore Plaza has ramped up illegal parking enforcement, while Iron Hill brokered a deal with a plumbing supply company across the street to use their 15-20 spots during the evening. 

Ward 12 representative Brian Gordon and Ward 4 representative Steven Lindner were the lone "no" votes—Lindner citing a lack of data demonstrating the impact of the business, Gordon explaining that the restaurant simply wouldn't fit in that space—while commissioners Liz Rogan, Jane Dellheim, and Phil Rosenzweig did not attend the special meeting.


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