Lansdale Historic Preservation Talks Could Center on Demo Permits for Commercial Properties

Dan Sokil | The Reporter•

The former Tremont Hotel in Lansdale, as seen from the corner of Main and Broad Streets prior to its demolition in 1997.

Talks are continuing about how Lansdale can preserve historic buildings around town, and at least one step could come soon.

Council’s code committee voted ahead changes in demolition permits meant to preserve those buildings, while continuing talks on how to codify new rules for preservation.

"As the conversation continues about historic preservation, there’s a couple of different mechanisms that the borough can enlist,” said borough Manager John Ernst.

Talks on historic preservation have been held thorough the summer, as news broke in May that the now-former Wells Fargo bank branch building at Main Street and Susquehanna Avenue, which dates back to the early 20th century, would close in mid-August.

In late July before that closure, the Lansdale Historical Society called on council to consider several changes, including restrictions on demolition permits and creation of a new historic district, meant to preserve historic buildings. On August 26, LHS led groups of residents on a tour of "Main Street Survivors,” pointing out historic buildings along Main Street and their current uses, and LHS has since posted a series of photos on their Facebook page highlighting 1960s revitalization efforts and the buildings that were demolished at that time, alongside then-and-now comparisons of the Wells Fargo and other sites.

In September the Rite Aid pharmacy at Main and Broad streets closed, evoking memories of the Tremont Hotel that occupied that corner from the 1890s to 1997, and that month town code staff said they were looking into language for a potential historic preservation ordinance, and/or ways to create a downtown district overseen by a historical architectural review board — while residents in adjacent Upper Gwynedd said they thought that corner could be an ideal site for low-income housing.

In late September came news of one more Main Street departure, that of the Signarama store at Main and Green streets, announcing a move to Upper Gwynedd and citing a need for more space.

Talks continued in the code committee meeting on Oct. 4, with Ernst and borough code director Jason Van Dame outlining their findings so far, and steps the town could take in the short- and long-term, starting with a list of historic properties included in a 2020 comprehensive plan update.

"Chapter 10 of the comprehensive plan talks about our historic resources, it gives some background, and it lists many of the properties in town that could be considered historic, and gets into some options and preservation tools,” Van Dame said.

In recent meetings with the Montgomery County Planning Commission and the Pennsylvania Historic Museum Commission, Van Dame said, he’s learned about several tactics that could be applied locally. The most notable is application for a site to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, of which the town currently has two: the LHS Jenkins Homestead on Jenkins Avenue, and the town’s passenger train station on Main Street that earned the designation in 2022.

"The fact is: just being listed on the register, does not actually provide any protection for the building. Protections on those buildings usually come when they take advantage of grant opportunities or funding resources,” Van Dame said.

A borough historic preservation ordinance could put formal protections on the books at a local level, Van Dame said, while a third option likely not up for consideration this time would be borough ownership of the properties — like the town’s ownership of the former Masonic temple at 311 West Main Street that the town tried to develop into a short-lived arts center in the late 2000s.

Property listings residents have posted on social media have listed a requested purchase price of $1.5 million for the Wells Fargo building, of $1.45 million for the former National Auto building at Main and Wood Streets, and no listing yet for the Rite Aid building, spurring discussion on social media about future uses residents would like to see in town.

"Outright purchasing would give the municipality the strongest level of protection, and ability to control what might happen with that property. This is not included in this presentation, as it is not economically viable for the borough,” Van Dame said.

"However, it is one of the reasons we are looking to put a preservation ordinance in place, because private property ownership does give rights to those owners to develop a property as they see fit, within the guidelines of our zoning and building code ordinances,” he said.

What next steps could come soon? Van Dame told the committee that staff have started talks with the town’s solicitor, land planner, and the planning commission in September about what they’d like to do, and are also seeking feedback from the public and code committee. So far, staff have found that an historic property ordinance is in place that covers the Silk Factory lofts on Line Street, where a former factory was converted into apartments in the early 2000s, and the overlay there allowed for the industrial use to be converted to residential so long as the façade and style of the building were preserved.

"So it does work, and it can work, and it can work here in Lansdale,” Van Dame said.

His recommendation to the code committee is to look into ways of expanding the current ordinance to include other properties, starting with the list of historic properties included in the 2020 comp plan update. That list mentions a total of 46 properties, of which nine are on Main Street, eight more are on Broad, the year the structure was built, and whether it could be eligible for the national register, and Van Dame said it could be a starting point for further talks.

"We would next start to really dig into the inventory list, and look to fully evaluate that list, potentially reach out to property owners, and get their input, in conjunction with what the community is looking for in this process,” he said.

Councilman Mark Ladley said he’s heard from a property owner in town that a similar push for preservation was made in the late 1990s, but stalled.

"What stopped this from moving forward at that point in time, the late 1990s, was that a lot of property owners didn’t want a historic district. At this point, it’s been 25 years, there may be some changeover, but I think the community does want this,” Ladley said.

Ernst said he thought part of the resistance in the late 1990s may have been from property owners who saw only downsides to the designation, and said any next steps to changing the codebook would require the owners be contacted, public advertisements, and public comments before any changes could be made by council.

If those listed historic properties are included in a historic zone, the code could require any property owner or developer to appear before borough council for a conditional use hearing before any demolition moves ahead. That process could also let council set conditions on any changes, the manager added, using the Wells Fargo building as an example.

"For example, the bank building: ‘We love the façade of that bank building, so if you’re going to demolish that building, you’ve got to keep that façade,’ and that’s the condition,” he said.

Resident Yanni Lambros asked what incentives the property owners would have to sign up, and Ernst answered "There is no incentive — we are asking them to do this,” but the historic designation could make the properties eligible for preservation grant funding from outside sources.

Carla Trongone said her law office is based on a building on Broad Street that could qualify, and asked if the ordinance would need the approval or permission of property owners to be passed; Ernst said that’s another question staff and the solicitor could research and report back on. Dominic Frascella asked if the majority of the properties on the 2020 list are within the downtown overlay district that council has recently discussed expanding, and Ernst answered that they’re "somewhat scattered,” with some residential properties included on the 2020 list.

Trongone said any parking relief could be "a huge incentive for businesses,” and suggested those in the zone could also be featured on wayfinding signage indicating where those historic properties are located. Historical Society President Pat Rieker said she’d like to review the list of properties to see if any others should be added, and/or if the residential sites should be broken out first.

Mayor Garry Herbert has added his own thoughts, writing in September in his Mayoral Musings column about possible new incentives, or penalties such as a vacancy tax he proposed in 2022, and again in mid-October about the possible benefits of a new historic commission tasked with vetting changes.

"Undoubtedly, this is a process that some developers may not appreciate and may feel limits their ability to expeditiously monetize their newly acquired property. Let me be clear: that is the point,” Herbert said.

"Thoughtful consideration of the community’s needs, wants, and desires is necessary when redeveloping and potentially demolishing historically important buildings,” he said.

Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 1 and the code committee meets at 7:30 p.m. that ight, both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine Street. For more information visit www.Lansdale.org.

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