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Dec 14

Towamencin: Long list of waivers requested for proposed Planet Fitness – The Times Herald

Fitness Comments Off on Towamencin: Long list of waivers requested for proposed Planet Fitness – The Times Herald

TOWAMENCIN Developer PSDC has begun making the case to Towamencin's officials for a new Planet Fitness to go inside a former Sears hardware store building.

In addition to a request to the board for conditional use approval, the developer is also asking to waive the formal land development process, and for a series of waivers of parts of township codes.

"Because this is an existing center, while we are proposing some improvements, we are requesting a waiver of land development," said attorney Carl Weiner.

During the township supervisors' Dec. 9 meeting, Weiner and engineer John Anderson read a Dec. 1 review letter from township engineer Tom Zarko, explaining how they'll comply with most of the conditions spelled out, and asking for waivers for several.

The first waiver request had to do with sidewalks along the frontages: on the Forty Foot Road side, Anderson said, the concrete sidewalks eventually merge with an asphalt path in front of the adjacent SKF Inc. office building also built by PSDC, and a similar link could be made on the Allentown Road side leading to an adjacent cemetery.

"We'd be happy to leave the asphalt path the way it is today. I think PSDC would be grateful to leave it, and not do any improvements there," Anderson said, and the board agreed.

Two more waiver requests had to do with street trees to be installed around the perimeter of the site, along both Allentown and Forty Foot Roads, where earlier and older trees have been removed over the past two years. Weiner said current codes require any new trees be at least 25 feet from overhead utility lines, which do run above both frontages, and said he and the engineer would work with staff to find shorter species that don't grow as high.

"That looks awful, now that those trees have been taken down. I understand there's power lines, but hopefully there's some way to address that," supervisors Chairman Chuck Wilson said, and supervisor Dan Littley added the property "looks like a B-52 strike" without them.

"I don't care what you do: until you do the outer perimeter trees, you're not going to change anything," Littley said.

A different waiver request asked that the board grant the developer permission to bypass a requirement that the entire parking lot be screened along the perimeter, which prompted similar comments.

"It's great that you're doing this, and I'm sure we all want to see this thing move along, but the landscaping proposed in here is just very scarce," Wilson said.

Anderson suggested the developer could work with the township's engineer to develop a phased landscaping plan, showing trees for the Sears and strip area first, then the frontages and a possible connection to the SKF building later on. Wilson said he and the board would accept that, and solicitor Jack Dooley suggested adding conditions to the land development waiver that require landscaping be added as part of later phases.

Applications for new freestanding signs indicating the new name of "The Shops at Town Square" are also in the works, according to the engineer, and those signs would meet all current codes and likely be surrounded by landscaping features near each driveway entrance, he said.

Supervisor Rich Marino also asked if the latest plans still include a driveway connection between the shopping center and the SKF building, with a driveway running out to a new traffic signal planned on Forty Foot at Newbury Way.

"That is still part of the future plans," Anderson said, but the developer is currently more focused on finding tenants for the shopping center first, then the planned age-restricted residential development behind, and analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on demand for each.

"They are definitely working on future plans for that area. It just has taken a little bit of a delay," Anderson said.

The board voted unanimously to direct staff to prepare a resolution spelling out the land development waivers and conditions, "in accordance with the discussion we had on each of the items tonight," Wilson said.

In response to an early look at the project's renderings, readers of The Reporter sounded off on Facebook about the proposed Planet Fitness. Reader Christina Guarna said she wondered what would go into the former Via Marconi restaurant building in the shopping center, and reader Theresa Guarna Prendergast said "at least it looks like something is finally happening to that site. Its been so sad seeing it empty like that (for) so long."

Reader Kathy Giorno Uskuraitis said she "would rather have some kind of family fun thing there," while reader Renai Molettiere Cardillo said "as a neighbor in Lower Salford, I applaud Towamencin Township for their thoughtful development."

Reader John Hatz Jr. added that he was "surprised anyone would invest in a gym at this time," and reader Mary Kliewer Wegscheider agreed: "I wouldnt open a gym in the near future," and reader Carla Kloufetos simply commented: "Yes!!!!"

Towamencin's supervisors next meet at 7 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2021; for more information visit http://www.Towamencin.org.

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Towamencin: Long list of waivers requested for proposed Planet Fitness - The Times Herald

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