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Politics & Government

Ardmore's Oktoberfest, BMW Expansion Recommended

The Building and Planning Committee also reviewed a subdivision plan which would require the removal of a historic barn in Gladwyne.

The Building and Planning Committee of the Lower Merion Township Board of Commissioners on Wednesday night recommended that the full Board consider a request to hold an Oktoberfest event in Ardmore, an "open space preservation subdivision plan" requiring the removal of a historic barn in Gladwyne to build five homes, and a tentative sketch for additional construction at the existing .

In a split vote, the committee also recommended that the full Board consider three matters for the proposed City Avenue Transportation Service Area.

Oktoberfest for Ardmore

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A request from the Ardmore Initiative to hold an Oktoberfest celebration on Cricket Avenue from about noon to 8 p.m. on Sept. 24 received the unanimous recommendation of the Building and Planning Committee and will be put on the consent agenda for the next Board of Commissioners meeting.

A portion of Cricket Avenue would be closed off to cars and the outdoor event would include the sale of alcoholic beverages, said Bob Duncan, the Township’s director of building and planning. He said vendors would set up tables and chairs outside and waiters and waitresses would ask for proper identification in order to prevent underage drinking at the event, Duncan said.

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Several Cricket Avenue restaurants, including , Tavern and have asked to sponsor the event, which is proposed to be a family-friendly affair, with live music and children’s activities, according to a public memorandum from the Township’s economic development specialist, Eric Persson.

Admission would be free, but customers would be charged for food and beverages. Christine Vilardo, executive director of , said, “It’s really gratifying to me to see our businesses coming together and creating events on their own.”

Board of Commissioners President Liz Rogan said she hoped Oktoberfest would be a successful event.

“If anyone out there would like a barn, please contact Mr. Weiss.”

The Building and Planning Committee also recommended that the full Board consider a preliminary open space subdivision plan for 1345 Conshohocken State Road and 1325 Club House Road in Gladwyne, which would involve the subdivision of a 9.3 acre parcel into five new lots and a preservation area.

Christopher Leswing, the Township’s assistant director of building and planning, said one of the township’s main concerns is the preservation of the historic Cunningham Barn, which must be removed from the property if the proposed subdivision’s five homes are to be built.

The Planning Commission recommended the plan be approved subject to several conditions, including that the barn be made available in its entirety to anyone who wishes to reconstruct it on another property.

“If anyone out there would like a barn, please contact Mr. Weiss,” Leswing said, referring to the applicant’s attorney, Ross Weiss, of Cozen and O’Connor.

Weiss expressed optimism about it finding a new home. “It’s a barn and it has a certain personality…” Weiss said.

Another condition calls for emergency access. Rogan agreed with the Planning Commission that having only a 200-foot lane to use for emergency access to the cul-de-sac (where the subdivision would sit) is dangerous for the people who live on the road.

Waivers

The Building and Planning Committee also voted to recommend that the Board of Commissioners consider three waivers of the Natural Features Code in order to disturb slopes 15 percent and greater for the installation of the common seepage bed, substitute evergreen trees for some of the required compensatory trees, and substitute deciduous shrubs for some of the required evergreen shrubs.

The committee voted 10-1 to recommend that the full board consider approving continuation of waivers granted with the tentative sketch plan: a waiver of a subdivision and land development code to create irregular lots on both the yield and subdivision plans, and a waiver of another development code to not submit the preliminary plan within 12 months of the tentative sketch approval.

Commissioner Jenny Brown cast the dissenting vote. Before the vote, Brown said she would oppose the continuation of the waivers because she had opposed the waivers the first time they were up.

'Compelled' to Approve Bala Village’s BMW dealership

A tentative sketch for additions and changes to the existing BMW of the Main Line was unanimously recommended by the Building and Planning Committee to the full Board.

The plan includes the construction of a series of additions and canopies to the existing building; construction of a car wash; installation of 24 vehicle lifts and 36 parking spaces at 215 Bala Avenue; a 415 square-foot addition to the existing building at 225 Bala Ave.; and exterior renovations to both buildings.

Because cars are always seen parked on the sidewalk outside the dealership, the township is proposing a “greening plan” to restrict that as much as possible, Leswing said.

“The standard we will hold BMW to is Ardmore Toyota,” Leswing said.  “It has as much landscaping as any streetscape in Lower Merion Township.”

Leswing said the vehicle lifts would be screened with landscaping to make them as visually unobtrusive as possible. However, commissioners expressed concern about the lifts, which would sit in a lot along Bala Avenue. Commissioner Daniel Bernheim questioned if the landscaping would shield the lifts from neighbors, and if not, they would “be the greatest eyesore.”

No one at the meeting was sure about the exact height of the lifts.  Leswing estimated 15-20 feet while George Broseman, the attorney representing the applicant, guessed eight to 12 feet. Broseman said Township staff believes the lifts will be screened adequately, but the tentative sketch plan is only the first step. When the preliminary plan goes before the committee for approval, a landscaping plan will be required, he said.

Leswing said the dealership was also proposing to change the architecture and look from Bala Avenue through exterior renovations to the buildings and the township sees the proposed plan as an opportunity for the BMW dealership to better fit in with the character of Bala Village.

Steven Dickstein, a homeowner who lives nearby to the dealership, disagreed. He said that while he appreciated Leswing’s efforts to make the dealership’s plan as attractive as it could be, “The plan so far does nothing to promote a village-type atmosphere.”

Dickstein said he had once hoped that Bala Village would become like Narberth’s downtown but that Bala Avenue has experienced a “consistent turning over in businesses … until we are up to our ears in nail salons.”

Dickstein expressed concerns about the dealership’s plan creating light pollution problems for residents.  He said he already feels like he and his wife live in a “very beleaguered little cul de sac” with a post office to the east that includes the unloading of mail in the parking lot at 3 a.m. and the railroad tracks directly south.

Commissioner George Manos said he hoped that the applicant would be receptive to Dickstein’s concerns about the lighting at the dealership and try to redirect it, but that he supported the application.

Manos said BMW is a successful business which brings people to Bala Avenue and the plan could be the beginning of the street's  revitalization. Manos noted that the Neighborhood Club of Bala Cynwyd did not attend the meeting to express opposition because the applicant had already appeared before the civic organization to discuss the plan.

Commissioner Philip Rosenzweig said because the BMW dealership is in a by-right area, “We are really compelled to give an approval.”

Rosenzweig said the best the commissioners could do was get the best conditions possible, adding he realized that was little comfort to residents if the dealership was their neighborhood.

City Avenue Transportation Service Area

In a 7-4 vote, the committee recommended that the full Board consider three matters pertaining to the proposed City Avenue Transportation Service Area: a resolution approving the Roadway Sufficiency Analysis (the traffic study for the service area); the adoption of the Transportation Capital Improvement Plan (including a timetable and proposed budget for constructing each roadway improvement); and adoption of the Pennsylvania Act 209 Transportation Impact Fee Study.

Act 209 “amended the Municipalities Planning Code to allow municipalities to assess transportation impact fees on new development provided that a transportation impact fee ordinance was adopted,” according to a public memorandum from Duncan.

Commissioners Jenny Brown, Cheryl Gelber, Lewis Gould Jr. and Rosenzweig voted against the recommendation.

The Board of Commissioners is scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote on the proposal for the fee—which would be charged to new developers along City Avenue in order to fund roadway improvements—on July 27. The Board’s approval of the impact fee does not require the approval of another proposal—the rezoning of City Avenue for new development.

Gould said the resolution “ignores completely…the fact that the Roadway Sufficiency Analysis is fatally flawed,” and that taxpayers stand to pay millions for road improvements.

Commissioner Daniel Bernheim said there appears to be a downside if the Board does not accept the proposed City Avenue traffic impact fee. Duncan responded, saying the Township already has three intersections that are failing, and that over time, those intersections and others will get worse.

“Even without investment, we’re going to have to invest in this corridor to improve conditions,” Duncan said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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