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 Collegeville Rd. LLC, with an address of 2965 West Germantown Pike, P. O. Box 243, Fairview Village, PA 19409. This is a modest bungalow on Germantown Pike, just down the hill toward the hospital from the intersection with Rte. 363 (here’s the Google Maps streetview link from September 2019 that shows it: ). From what I understand, it is common practice for developers to set up individual LLCs for each development. I suspect this is not only to obscure who is actually behind this (thus avoiding potentially damaging PR), but also as a way for the parent company to dodge liability if needed.
6. The largest proposed lot is 31,163 sq. ft., or just under 3/4 acre. The smallest is 14,070 sq. ft., or just under 1/3 acre. The average lot size across all fifty eight lots is 17,475 sq. ft., or about 2/5 acre. The Skippack Township zoning map shows the Perkiomen Valley airport to be zone RA (residential agricultural). Buildings sited in the RA zoning district must meet the following criteria:
- Minimum lot area of 75,000 feet, or just under 1 ¾ acre (none of the proposed lots meet this standard).
- Minimum lot width 200 feet (none of the lots meet this standard).
- Front yard setback of 75 feet (none of the proposed lots meet this standard).
- Rear yard setback of 60 feet (none of the proposed lots meets this standard).
- Side yard setbacks of 50 feet (none of the proposed lots meet this standard).
- Maximum building coverage of 10% (almost none of the proposed lots meet this standard).
- Maximum impervious coverage of 20% (including all buildings).
There is also a "cluster development option" (CDO) that allows for smaller lots, etc. However, in order for a plot designated as RA to be eligible for a CDO, it must “… share a boundary with a property located in the R2 Residential District …”. According to the Skippack Township zoning map, this is only achieved by dint of a roughly 30' stretch of Hildebeitel and Mill Roads that abuts both the Perkiomen Valley airport property and the Iron Bridge development, which is zoned as R2. An argument can be made that, because the right-of-way is not considered private property and is therefore not itself in an R2 residential district, there is no direct abutment due to the right-of-way for Hildebeitel and Mill Roads running between Iron Bridge and the airport (call me crazy, but I have a feeling that the township is going to side with the developer on this). Under these regulations, the requirements are as follows:
- Minimum lot size of 12,500 sq. ft. net.
- Minimum lot width of 100 feet.
- Front yard setback of 20 feet.
- Rear yard setback of 25 feet.
- Side yard setback of 15 feet.
- Maximum building coverage of 30%.
- Minimum open space of 50% of the entire tract (the plan does not meet this standard unless the detention basins are considered to be "open space" ... which, sadly, they are).
- Maximum density of 1.15 units per gross acre (comes in just under this limit at 1.1 units per gross acre).
With all this, it becomes clear that the township is planning to either claim the right-of-way on Mill/Hildebeitel as R2 or RA, or rezone this area as R2.
7. As anyone who drives in the area knows, making a left onto Hildebeitel Road from Mill Road is problematic because of the three or four feet of elevation decrease on Mill Rd., making sight lines a bit troublesome. This will be made worse by the proposed runoff detention basin to be sited at that corner which will feature an 8' berm.
8. There is a second detention basin to be located along the northwest edge of the property. This will necessitate the removal of almost all the old growth trees along that edge of the property.
9. A third detention basin will be sited directly behind the existing property at 723 Collegeville Rd. This will put the pond that is the headwater of the creek that ultimately passes under Hildebeitel Rd. between the house and the basin. This basin will also discharge its flow into the pond that serves as the headwaters of the creek that flows between Collegeville and Hildebeitel roads.
It is also interesting to note that the detention basins are considered “open space.” According to the site plan they "... shall be owned and maintained by the homeowners association established for this subdivision." Including these basins, the total "open space" is just over 50% of the total acreage of the land (32.3 acres out of 64), which just barely meets the 50% requirement for a CDO. However, considering that nearly one third of this open space is constituted of stormwater detention basins, it is therefore not really "usable" land.
10. Dave Naples spoke with Chris Heleniak, the township manager. When asked for all publicly available documents pertaining to this project, Heleniak told Naples that he had to be more specific. However, when Naples asked Heleniak what was available so he could BE that specific, he said he couldn't say that and Naples had to find out on his own. It was the same as being going to a new restaurant and being told you had to order without seeing a menu.
#StopMillRun
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