Since a zoning decision two years ago, the vacant lot at the prime corner of Ardmore and Lancaster avenues has sat all but unused, grass slowly overtaking its gravel surface. The only building that has gone on there is that done by a persistent and creative band of rock-sculpture stackers.
Now there are new developments in the proposal by Rite Aid of Pennsylvania to fill that gap in the heart of Ardmore.
The drugstore chain has recently submitted to Lower Merion Township revised plans for the site that more closely comply with zoning.
Those plans also nearly double the amount of new commercial space that would be built on the slightly-less-than-one-acre lot.
In the new approach, a full second story would be added to the original proposal for a flagship store with a two-lane pharmacy drive-thru. The upstairs space would be designated primarily for office uses.
As such, the structure would be a mixed-use building, more in line with goals of downtown Ardmore’s Mixed-Use Special Transit district, or MUST, zoning.
Significantly, as a mixed-use building, the project could take advantage of a provision in MUST to count nearby public parking towards its parking requirement. With the increased square-footage, the new plan thus provides no more than the 30 parking spaces proposed under Rite Aid’s original plan.
A deviation from the 57 parking spaces that would otherwise have been required for the drugstore alone was one of the elements of the of the Rite Aid plan that led to a decision by Lower Merion’s zoning board in August 2011 to deny zoning relief.
Rite Aid appealed that decision to Montgomery County court, and that is where the plan has sat, without action, ever since.
By bringing a revised proposal forward now, “The plan would be for this or one like it to be brought to the board of commissioners to see if [the board] is interested in pursuing it for a settlement” of the litigation, Building and Planning Director Bob Duncan told Main Line Media News this week.
The new plan surfaced – for the briefest moment – at a meeting of the township’s historical architectural review board Tuesday.
Commissioners have asked HARB for some feedback on the proposed building, said Zoning Officer Michael Wylie, a liaison to the advisory board. Although the property in question does not lie within the Ardmore Business Historic District, the Ardmore/Lancaster Avenue intersection is seen as a gateway to the business district.
Rite Aid’s proposal to build on the site was the subject of some seven hearings over nine months in 2010-2011. The drug chain had initially requested half a dozen variances for its plan, which called for the consolidation of several parcels from 104 to 124 W. Lancaster Ave.
A one-story retail strip and the multi-story Smith Building were demolished in 2009 in connection with the realignment of the intersection to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety. A car was that was left standing on the westernmost parcel will also be demolished if the development plan moves forward.
All of the parcels are owned by Joseph W. Hopkins of Bryn Mawr, general partner of Western Lancaster Properties, and are under lease to Rite Aid.
In the application to the zoning board, Rite Aid had sought the unusually long list of variances, at the same time arguing that the MUST zoning, which aims to promote transit use and pedestrian-oriented development, is flawed and arbitrary. Some provisions are contradictory, making it impossible, Rite Aid’s attorneys and planning expert maintained, to design a fully-compliant site plan.
Lower Merion Township objected to the requests. In testimony, Duncan presented a building concept, drawn up by planning staff, to demonstrate that a mixed-use, compliant building could be developed. As Rite Aid, in the course of the hearings, made some alterations to reduce the number of requested variances, the zoning board found that also weakened Rite Aid’s hardship argument and denied relief.
Specifically, the plans that have been submitted now call for a building of 12,548 square feet per floor, or a total of just over 25,000 square feet. The drugstore would occupy the ground floor, while the upper story would include another 1,702 square feet of retail space and 10,870 square feet of office space.
The original plan called for a 14,246 square foot store, with just about 1,700 square feet of space on a mezzanine level.
During the zoning hearings, Rite Aid had proposed some changes to address township objections, including adding a second store entrance at the Ardmore/Lancaster Avenue corner and relocating a receiving area for deliveries farther back on the Ardmore Avenue side of the building, closer to a truck loading area in the rear. (The receiving area is to be accessed via a large roll-up door, which initially would have been placed directly across from the township’s pocket park and fountain in front of Bryn Mawr Trust.)
Some of the aspects of the plan that had raised concerns in the community – and for township planners – have not changed. Most significant of these is the traffic circulation plan.
The primary driveway entrance and parking lot are located at the western side of the site, accessed via Lancaster Avenue. The two drive-thru lanes at the rear of the building would exit on Ardmore Avenue, where there would be a second access. Left-turns into the site from westbound Lancaster Avenue might be permitted.
According to the revised plan, a total of 82 parking spaces would typically be required for the proposed retail and office space. Thirty would be provided on-site, while, under MUST, the other 52 could be “borrowed” from nearby public parking.
In addition to a few on-street metered spaces on Ardmore Avenue, Duncan said the closest public parking is across Ardmore Avenue in a lot near the Ardmore House senior apartments, and across Lancaster Avenue in a municipal lot behind stores.
Due to its long agenda Tuesday, HARB did not discuss the Rite Aid plan. It may take up the plan at its November meeting.
Duncan said the board of commissioners would discuss the plan at a public meeting possibly in November or more likely in December.
Now there are new developments in the proposal by Rite Aid of Pennsylvania to fill that gap in the heart of Ardmore.
The drugstore chain has recently submitted to Lower Merion Township revised plans for the site that more closely comply with zoning.
Those plans also nearly double the amount of new commercial space that would be built on the slightly-less-than-one-acre lot.
In the new approach, a full second story would be added to the original proposal for a flagship store with a two-lane pharmacy drive-thru. The upstairs space would be designated primarily for office uses.
As such, the structure would be a mixed-use building, more in line with goals of downtown Ardmore’s Mixed-Use Special Transit district, or MUST, zoning.
Significantly, as a mixed-use building, the project could take advantage of a provision in MUST to count nearby public parking towards its parking requirement. With the increased square-footage, the new plan thus provides no more than the 30 parking spaces proposed under Rite Aid’s original plan.
A deviation from the 57 parking spaces that would otherwise have been required for the drugstore alone was one of the elements of the of the Rite Aid plan that led to a decision by Lower Merion’s zoning board in August 2011 to deny zoning relief.
Rite Aid appealed that decision to Montgomery County court, and that is where the plan has sat, without action, ever since.
By bringing a revised proposal forward now, “The plan would be for this or one like it to be brought to the board of commissioners to see if [the board] is interested in pursuing it for a settlement” of the litigation, Building and Planning Director Bob Duncan told Main Line Media News this week.
The new plan surfaced – for the briefest moment – at a meeting of the township’s historical architectural review board Tuesday.
Commissioners have asked HARB for some feedback on the proposed building, said Zoning Officer Michael Wylie, a liaison to the advisory board. Although the property in question does not lie within the Ardmore Business Historic District, the Ardmore/Lancaster Avenue intersection is seen as a gateway to the business district.
Rite Aid’s proposal to build on the site was the subject of some seven hearings over nine months in 2010-2011. The drug chain had initially requested half a dozen variances for its plan, which called for the consolidation of several parcels from 104 to 124 W. Lancaster Ave.
A one-story retail strip and the multi-story Smith Building were demolished in 2009 in connection with the realignment of the intersection to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety. A car was that was left standing on the westernmost parcel will also be demolished if the development plan moves forward.
All of the parcels are owned by Joseph W. Hopkins of Bryn Mawr, general partner of Western Lancaster Properties, and are under lease to Rite Aid.
In the application to the zoning board, Rite Aid had sought the unusually long list of variances, at the same time arguing that the MUST zoning, which aims to promote transit use and pedestrian-oriented development, is flawed and arbitrary. Some provisions are contradictory, making it impossible, Rite Aid’s attorneys and planning expert maintained, to design a fully-compliant site plan.
Lower Merion Township objected to the requests. In testimony, Duncan presented a building concept, drawn up by planning staff, to demonstrate that a mixed-use, compliant building could be developed. As Rite Aid, in the course of the hearings, made some alterations to reduce the number of requested variances, the zoning board found that also weakened Rite Aid’s hardship argument and denied relief.
Specifically, the plans that have been submitted now call for a building of 12,548 square feet per floor, or a total of just over 25,000 square feet. The drugstore would occupy the ground floor, while the upper story would include another 1,702 square feet of retail space and 10,870 square feet of office space.
The original plan called for a 14,246 square foot store, with just about 1,700 square feet of space on a mezzanine level.
During the zoning hearings, Rite Aid had proposed some changes to address township objections, including adding a second store entrance at the Ardmore/Lancaster Avenue corner and relocating a receiving area for deliveries farther back on the Ardmore Avenue side of the building, closer to a truck loading area in the rear. (The receiving area is to be accessed via a large roll-up door, which initially would have been placed directly across from the township’s pocket park and fountain in front of Bryn Mawr Trust.)
Some of the aspects of the plan that had raised concerns in the community – and for township planners – have not changed. Most significant of these is the traffic circulation plan.
The primary driveway entrance and parking lot are located at the western side of the site, accessed via Lancaster Avenue. The two drive-thru lanes at the rear of the building would exit on Ardmore Avenue, where there would be a second access. Left-turns into the site from westbound Lancaster Avenue might be permitted.
According to the revised plan, a total of 82 parking spaces would typically be required for the proposed retail and office space. Thirty would be provided on-site, while, under MUST, the other 52 could be “borrowed” from nearby public parking.
In addition to a few on-street metered spaces on Ardmore Avenue, Duncan said the closest public parking is across Ardmore Avenue in a lot near the Ardmore House senior apartments, and across Lancaster Avenue in a municipal lot behind stores.
Due to its long agenda Tuesday, HARB did not discuss the Rite Aid plan. It may take up the plan at its November meeting.
Duncan said the board of commissioners would discuss the plan at a public meeting possibly in November or more likely in December.
Source: Mainlinemedianews.com
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