NORRISTOWN — A 24-unit townhouse plan for 1202 DeKalb St. was reviewed Tuesday night by the Norristown Planning Commission, but no action was taken on the final site plans.
Developer Sarah Peck, the president of Progressive Housing Ventures LLC, has plans to build three, three-story townhouse buildings bounded by DeKalb, Wood, Green and East Basin streets. The plans call for 30 garage parking spaces and nine overflow surface parking spaces, with a 26-foot-wide, one-way internal driveway from East Basin Street around the middle building leading to and from the garages.
Prices would range from $139,900 for a 1,200-square-foot unit to the low $150,000s for a 1,500-square-foot unit, Peck said.
On Oct. 23, 2012, the Norristown Zoning Hearing Board granted variances allowing the 24 units, and three-story buildings to a maximum height of 40 feet.
“We believe we satisfied most of the technical issues last month. We did receive HARB approval for the plans,” Peck said.
Engineer Charles Dobson, representing Progressive Housing Ventures, said that a new, turning area on East Basin Street would allow northbound cars on DeKalb Street to safely turn onto East Basin Street.
Wrought-iron, four-foot high and three-foot high fencing will be installed on two sides of the development.
Dobson said the landscape architect had recommended 12 street trees, five flowering trees,seven evergreen trees and more than 30 shrubs. He said it would be difficult to satisfy the required number of trees because of limited space on the 2/3-acre parcel.
Montgomery County Planner Jean Holland said that more trees and shrubs were needed to satisfy the landscape requirements.
“If more trees could be substituted from the plant list,” Holland said, “I would encourage that.”
Dobson said a sprinkler company had agreed the proposed 4-inch water main would be adequate for the required sprinkler system.
Commission Chairman Matthew Edmond said he wanted the developer to use more brick for the building facades.
Edmond said that because the commission did not have a quorum of members at the Tuesday night meeting, it could not take official action to recommend approval of the site plans to Norristown Council. Two members of the commission were absent from the meeting and member Michael Davis recused himself from voting on the project.
Resident Andrew Corley said he was concerned about parking and the large number of units.
“Twenty four units is too much for that neighborhood,” Corley said.
Naomi Satterwhite of Lower Providence, the owner of a home in Norristown, said she was concerned about the parking issue in the neighborhood.
“I’m already having a parking problem on Wood Street,” Satterwhite said.
Peck said she had not yet been able to secure public funding to reduce the number of townhouse units. Several residents have asked Peck to drop the number of units at previous meetings.
Elaina Santangelo asked where trash cans would be stored in the townhouses.
“Lots of people park on my street,” she said. “You have to figure on two cars even if people are single. You are paving over two-thirds of an acre and that is going to increase flooding.”
Peck said an underground drainage basin would collect and then release stormwater through on-site rain gardens. Dobson said the system would reduce runoff by 30 percent.
“This development is horribly congested,” India Ballard said. “There are waivers for too many things. There are too many units.”
Betty Ann McPherson said the project would not look like the homes in her neighborhood. McPherson said the new zoning code being proposed would require new construction to blend into the current housing stock of each block.
One woman interested in purchasing one of the townhouses said she liked the townhouse project and wanted to move in once it is built.
Source; Times Herald
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