CONSHOHOCKEN — Borough engineer James Watson reviewed the
proposed, six-story, 240,000-square-foot office building on the Schuylkill
River and several requested variances on Monday night for the Conshohocken
Zoning Hearing Board.
An April 7 hearing on several zoning variance requests was
continued by the board so Watson could address several construction and zoning
issues raised by Zoning Officer Christine Stetler, Solicitor David Nasatir and
board members.
The proposal for the 384-foot-by-120-foot office building
(Millenium Block A) would be connected to an existing, 360-foot long “shed”
office building called Millenium III on the 17-acre site at 200 Washington
Street. The plans presented by engineer Mike Engel include an open-air
amphitheater between the new building and the riverbank and a new, six-story
parking garage for about 900 vehicles.
Attorney Edmund Campbell Jr., representing the developer,
O’Neill Properties Group (OPG) of Upper Merion, said, “The revised plans on May
3 have dimensions on the buildings as requested by the board. The parking
structure is not ‘fronting’ the Schyulkill River because we have a buffer lot
between the river and the garage.”
Stetler said, “this is the open space required when Tower
Bridge was built.”
“We worked with the staff to work on a ‘skin’ for the
parking garage to make it not be a garage,” said Brian O’Neill, the CEO of OPG.
“The metal mesh would be lit from behind to make the garage lighting less
visible.”
Zoning board chairman Richard Barton said the buffer lot
allowed the parking garage to be located in the proposed location.
Board members Russ Cardamone and Vivian Angelucci said it
appeared the garage was located parallel to the riverbank. O’Neill disagreed
with that interpretation.
Board member Janis Vacca said the intent of the zoning was
to make the garage less visible. “We do not want to be looking at a parking
garage,” Vacca said. “We need to see some visuals.”
A cellphone image of a similar screen and backlighting on a
Philadelphia building was shown to the board members.
“We’re asking for building bulk greater than what is
allowed,” Campbell said. “The building will be 548 feet wide when it is
connected to the existing building.”
O’Neill said the unnamed office building occupant,
reportedly AmerisourceBergen, wants to have a corporate headquarters in a
building that is interconnected between the various work spaces.
“We have a desire to build authentic replica buildings,”
O’Neill said.
Vacca pointed out that the new building would “not look
anything like” the existing office building it would connect to. O’Neill agreed
that the exterior designs were different.
Campbell said the design would have several dozen “public
parking spaces” on the parcel and in the parking garage.
Campbell said there were three access walkways from public
streets to the riverfront and a proposed amphitheater with seating for 1,000
people.
A May 5 review letter by Borough engineer Paul Hughes had
technical recommendations for the engineering drawings but concluded “our
office does not see any items that will not be satisfied with the required
approvals and permits.”
Borough engineer James Watson said the Hughes letter agreed
the developer would have to provide detailed plans to the state Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) to get a floodplain permit to build the proposed
office building in the floodway.
Campbell said that several elements of the amphitheater, a
paved parking area, courtyards and walkways were located in the floodway and
were subject to DEP regulations.
“There will be no structures in the floodway,” Campbell
said.
Stetler asked if the grading would raise the buildings
located in the floodway. Campbell responded that there were no plans for that.
Barton asked about the variance request for relief on the
building height which only allows an 85-foot high building. Campbell said the
developer was still asking for a variance to allow a variance to allow a
90-foot high building.
Resident Jane Garbacz said, “the borough is bursting at the
seams. Last week’s flood shows we need to adhere to the flood regulations. We
can’t expect any developer to make the flooding go away. A strict adherance to
the zoning ordinances should be enforced.”
She said that Conshohocken did not have all the sewage
capacity that the office building would require.
O’Neill said the sewage plant was running at “50 percent of
capacity. This property has five points of entry to the riverfront.”
Garbacz reiterated that Conshohocken “does not own all of
the capacity” at the joint sewer plant.
The board members talked about tweaking the design of the
metal mesh on the parking garage to more completely hide the parking garage.
“We do not want to see a parking garage,” Vacca said.
Stetler said the design has to go to the Conshohocken Design
Review Committee and the Conshohocken Planning Commission for reviews.
Variances for building bulk, the size of the parking garage
and the parking structure orientation; total building length; the amphitheater,
walkways, parking areas and courtyards in the floodway and building height for
the office building were approved by the board.
A new connection between the existing building and the
proposed office building would be a connecting atrium with no office space. The
parking garage will be hidden from view after the review committee approves a
developer’s design.
Cardamone voted against the parking garage variance, the
parking structure orientation and the building height for the office building.
Campbell said he expected to present plans to the planning
commission in the summertime.
Source: Times
Herald
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