Twp. Committee OKs Wyoming Ave. Project

The Lower Merion Board of Commissioners' Building and Planning Committee on Wednesday night recommended that the full board approve the tentative sketch plan for a 14-unit development on S. Wyoming Avenue in Ardmore, which was met with a great deal of public opposition.

Commissioners Cheryl Gelber, Paul McElhaney and Steve Lindner voted against the proposal.

The plan calls for the construction of 10 townhouses and four sets of twin homes at 9, 11, 13 and 19 S. Wyoming Ave., with a common driveway.

Bob Duncan, the township’s building and planning director, said both townhouses and twin homes are permitted under the zoning code, but the township has never before approved a development which has both.

Each have different requirements for impervious surface limits and frontage, Duncan said. He and Board of Commissioners President Liz Rogan said if the plan was approved, it would set a precedent for future developments—so Duncan advised the committee to establish how impervious surface and frontage requirements would be calculated.

The committee recommended that the full board approve the sketch plan, subject to  calculations which it established for those issues.

Opposition

Six residents who spoke publically at the meeting said they were opposed to the development plan.

Maryam Phillips of the Ardmore Progressive Civic Asso. said she appreciated that the development has been reduced from 18 proposed units to 14, but there is “still way more on this site than should be allowed.” Nearby residents are concerned about increased traffic, parking, and that the development does not match the character of the neighborhood because of its density, she said.

Snow removed from the development will end up in the street, Phillips said, adding that residents also want to know where the trash will be stored and if there can be a condition to control the hours of when it is collected.

Other residents echoed those concerns and brought up other concerns, including potential soil and groundwater contamination on the property, and residents of existing homes losing privacy.

Rogan said she is familiar with the Wyoming Avenue neighborhood and she understood that residents were “upset and concerned,” but when it comes to the proposal, the board does not have a lot of control under the zoning code “to say, ‘No, you can’t do it.’”

“There’s no simple, easy solution and I think (township) staffers are doing the best they can with the site,” Rogan said.