LOWER PROVIDENCE >> Two requests to rezone
industrial and professional business office parcels to allow townhomes and single-family
homes was discussed Thursday by the Lower Providence Board of Supervisors.
The developer has crafted an Act II remediation plan for
the two parcels to cap a contaminated one-acre site with 2-foot soil barrier
and install fan systems to pump any contaminated air under basement slabs into
the air.
W.B. Homes Inc. of North Wales got a unanimous
recommendation for the zoning map changes on Oct. 22 from the planning
commission, said Christopher Canavan, the senior vice president of W.B. Homes.
The developer needs approval from the board on the zoning changes, and the
board directed Solicitor John Rice to draft the required ordinances to allow
public hearings to be scheduled.
A 35-acre “western” parcel at the intersection of
Germantown Pike and River Road would change from industrial zoning to allow
construction of 140 townhomes. The three-bedroom, 2.5-bath townhomes would have
a mix of one and two-car garages and would be clustered in about 31, two and
three-story buildings, Canavan said.
The townhomes would sell for about $300,000, said Bill
Bonenberger, the president of W.B. Homes.
An agreement of sale was made to purchase both parcels
from Superior Tube Co. for an undisclosed purchase price.
The 4.5-acre “eastern” parcel off Cross Keys Road would
be rezoned from the professional business office zone to R-3 Residential. The
12 proposed, single-family homes would sell for about $415,000.
If the zoning changes are approved by the board and site
plan approvals are secured, construction could start in the spring or summer
2016, Bonenberger said.
“You have a wide number of different zoning districts
close to these two parcels,” Canavan said. “You have a lot of transitions
between zoning districts. Industrial does not really make sense in the
neighborhood. The townhouses were designed to comply with your R-4
regulations.”
Canavan said that Lower Providence real estate taxes
would increase $140,000 per year after all 140 townhouses were sold. The
Methacton School District would get an additional $872,000 in annual tax
revenue. The cost of educating the expected number of additional school
children would reduce the school district’s revenue by about $489,000.
“This is a discretionary decision by the board,” he said.
“We would ask you to advertise the zoning changes to hold a public hearing.”
Township Manager Richard Gestrich asked about the
contamination of the land.
“It is an Act II site. There is groundwater contamination
on the site. There are several monitoring wells on the site. We are very
well-aware about this,” Canavan said. “We have submitted a cleanup plan to the
state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).”
The soil contamination is limited to one area behind a
rear parking lot, he said.
“This will have a 2-foot soil cap over it and it will be
fenced off,” he said. “It would be more harmful to remove this soil because of
the steep slopes. We expect to get a state DEP approval for our mitigation plan
soon.”
Supervisors’ Chairwoman Colleen Eckman asked if the
developer could plant on top of the cap area.
“We plan to landscape that area with additional soil,”
Canavan said. “No one is going to want to play there when we fence it off.”
Canavan said the company has done Act 2 remediation on
similar contaminated sites at more than six residential projects in the region.
Solicitor John Rice asked about the disclosure forms and
the homeowners’ covenants to disclose the soil and water contamination.
Canavan said there were three water monitoring wells on
the townhouse site that would remain in place while Superior Tube completes a
testing program that will continue until summer 2015.
“We are showing the project has more than 30 percent open
space,” Canavan said. “There will be a combination of storm water basins and
underground facilities.”
Rice said that changes would be made in a proposed
ordinance that would comply with township regulations.
The board authorized Rice to prepare the zoning ordinance
for a public hearing and directed Township Engineer Timothy Woodrow to draft
proposed regulations for the townhouse development.
Irv Zimmerman, an Evansburg Road resident, said the
“ground was highly, highly contaminated. I have to have my water tested at
least once a year for Trichlorethylene. This Germantown Pike is a major route
and it is so congested. We need a second bridge crossing at the creek.
We will need to redo the roads and increase the size of
the police department.”
Zimmerman said that things should be “checked out more.”
“I would not consider buying one of those homes for
$200,000. I would not want to buy a townhome on a contaminated site,” he said.
Supervisor Don Thomas asked about the costs of
remediation.
Canavan said the developer would spend about $20,000 for
each townhouse for basement air handling equipment. The developer will also cap
the one-acre contaminated earth site and has already spent $125,000 for a
remediation plan.
Source: Times
Herald
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