Stop Mill Run

 

This is gonna be a long one, folks. Since this website went live it has been a whirlwind of activity at this end. We have been filling the room at Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission meetings, we have been going door-to-door collecting signatures on our petition, we have been researching the application and other public documents to see if there's anything in there that would put a stop to this thing. It is at this time that a little back story might be in order. I started this effort a few weeks ago because of the potential for the quiet, semi-rural way of life we enjoy in Skippack to be cast aside in favor of lining a developer's pockets. I mean, let's face it ... the reason most people are here is for this quiet lifestyle. I have been a resident of Skippack Township for nearly fifteen years now. In that time I have seen the Board of Supervisors routinely ignoring the wishes of the residents in favor of developers, doing the bare minimum when it comes to informi...

On Friday, November 9, 2021, Dave Naples filed a formal Open Records request with Chris Heleniak, Township Manager. Today at 4:46 PM, Mr. Heleniak provided the following materials: Skippack Township Checklist Skippack Township Application Skippack Township Request for Modification (waivers) Skippack Township Time Waiver Form Montgomery County Planning Commission Act 247 Form (submitted to county, report included) Aerial Photograph Conditional Use application The following items were not provided by Mr. Heleniak, but were part of the initial application (based on the township checklist): Copy of the check in amount of $10,000.00 for Skippack Township Escrow Traffic Impact Study (will be provided under separate cover by Traffic Consultant) Title Report Property Notice Posted (documentation will be provided under separate cover within 24 hours after submission) A copy of the Preliminary Land Development Plans*, 31 sheets, dated 9/30/21 and a copy of the E&S and PCSM Plans, 19 sheets, ...

The Skippack Board of Supervisors meeting took place this evening at 7:30 PM. There were about 20 to 25 residents in attendance. The entire meeting was recorded on YouTube, and can be accessed here . Dave Naples raised the issue of the airport development project; this generated quite a bit of back-and-forth between the Board and residents. We raised the following issues: Zoning The proposed development is zoned RA-Residential/Agricultural with a cluster development option (CDO). One of the requirements for a CDO is that the property being developed share a boundary with a property that is zoned R2-Residential. The developer is relying on about 100 feet of frontage along Mill Road that abuts the Iron Bridge Estates development to meet this requirement. Our contention is that, since Mill Road is state-owned property and therefore breaks the "shared boundary" requirement, the development is illegal. The Board did not respond to this directly. Open Space 47.96% of the proposed d...

Okay, folks. Here are some stats for ya. The total number of homes being canvassed to oppose the subdivision: 535 Total number of homes visited since last Monday: 119 (a little over 22%) Because the Board of Supervisors meeting is Wednesday and the Planning Commission is a week from today, it is clear that there is no way we can cover all this turf in the time allotted. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! This isn't a hard sell. Out of the 119 homes visited in the past week, 48 were non-answers (people weren't home). This leaves a total of 71 homes where people came to the door. Out of these, 60 homes had one or more people who elected to sign the petition, for a grand total of 74 signatures. We have a positive response of about 84.5% percent, and we have collected more signatures than homes. We need people to pound the pavement and collect enough signatures to make a real dent in this thing at both meetings. 74 signatures is not enough to really grab their attention. Our goal is to highlight ...

To date we have collected 72 signatures on a petition to halt this development. We have canvassed over 100 homes. While there were several who did not answer, out of everybody who came to the door we have only had five people refuse to sign. Three of those simply wanted more information, one refused because he felt it was a waste of time and nothing would be done, and one refused for reasons it is inappropriate to make public. Our goal is to demonstrate that, if this development is allowed to proceed, there will be severe electoral consequences for the members of the Board of Supervisors. Skippack Township has three voting precincts. The first precinct covers the eastern end of the township, including the village, and is a Democratic stronghold. And while the Board is purely Republican, and has been pretty much for the last several decades, very few Republican candidates have won the first precinct. That leaves the other two which, coincidentally, encompass the area affected by this su...

The following information has been confirmed. The developer behind this effort is Del Grippo Custom Homes, located at 2965 West Germantown Pike, Fairview Village, PA, 19409. A water conservation study has, apparently, not yet been done. I spoke with the Montgomery County Conservation District (MCCD) and either a) there has not been an application filed for this study yet, or b) MCCD is, for some reason, withholding this information from the public. I suspect it's the former, since the person I spoke with did send me the requested link to the section of the PA code that they rely upon to conduct these studies. We are looking for volunteers to help with the petition. If you are interested, please reach out to daveforskippack@gmail.com and let us know. #StopMillRun

An update on the proposed housing development at the Perkiomen Valley airport. It's a long one, but there is a lot of useful information. There is a picture of the front page of the site plan above so folks can get an idea of what is being proposed. Below are the bullet points. 1. The proposed name of the subdivision is Mill Run . 2. In an earlier post we identified Tuesday, November 16 at 7:30 PM as the date and time of the planning commission meeting. This was obtained from Skippack Township web site. The day after this was posted, the township changed the meeting date and time to Monday, November 15th at 7:30 PM. 3. Dave Naples went to the township building this morning (Friday, November 5, 2021) and got a look at the site plan. We have pictures of almost all the pages (a couple of them are illegible due to poor camera work -- our apologies). 4. The site plan was prepared by Bursich Associates , located at 2129 E. High Street in Pottstown. 5. The developer is listed as 761 Colle...

  We are residents of Skippack Township. This is to inform you (in case you are not already aware) that there is a subdivision of 58 homes being considered for the site of the Perkiomen Valley airport. There is a meeting of the Skippack Township Planning Commission scheduled for Tuesday, November 16 at 7:30 PM at the township building on Heckler Road, next to Skippack Elementary. Some reasons for opposing this development effort. Traffic considerations Putting a development on this site will contribute greatly to the amount of traffic on Collegeville Road, Hildebeitel Road, Mine Road, Landis Road, and Mt. Airy Road (Landis, Collegeville, and Mine Roads form three of the four borders of the airport property). The increased traffic on these roads will have fairly severe safety impacts for residents who live on or near these roads (there are several school bus stops along these roads). In addition, Hildebeitel Road, currently a residential street with a 30 MPH speed limit, will become...