Upper Gwynedd’s Pennbrook Parkway Debate Continues, with Eyes on Lansdale

Two votes in August have not meant the end of talks on a proposed project on Pennbrook Parkway.

Township officials announced Tuesday that another vote will be needed on a zoning change for that project, while residents continue to sound off against it, making comparisons to a newly vacant corner in nearby Lansdale.

“In Lansdale, there’s property on the southwest corner of Broad Street and Main. It used to be the Tremont Hotel, and most recently it’s been a Rite Aid pharmacy which is now defunct. The site was of residential use, and is surrounded by other properties for the same purpose. Unlike the proposed spot zoning approved by this board last month, it’s more appropriate for the stated intent of affordable, low-income subsidized housing,” said resident Carl Vorwerk.

“It does not require spot zoning for the redevelopment of this property. There’s infrastructure and utilities currently available to the former Tremont Hotel site. All these will have to be created, of course, to the proposed Pennbrook fiasco that we have going on,” he said.

In August, township commissioners approved a zoning text and map change meant to expand the township’s transit overlay district into a roughly six-acre parcel of light industrial land on Pennbrook Parkway, where New Jersey-based developer The Walters Group has proposed a complex of 60 apartment units with some dedicated to “workforce housing,” meant for residents who meet certain low-income qualifications.

Since that approval in late August, a “Friends of Upper Gwynedd” resident group has filed a brief in opposition to the proposed ordinance, challenging that the approval was considered spot zoning, while the developer has said they are considering similar projects elsewhere in the county.

In neighboring Lansdale, the former Rite Aid at Main and Broad closed in mid-September, prompting rounds of talks in that municipality about future uses on one of the town’s most visible corners.

Those talks spilled over into Upper Gwynedd on Tuesday night, as several residents recalled to the commissioners how a Lansdale councilman has voiced his concern to Upper Gwynedd’s board about a need for affordable housing in the area — and suggested the borough look to that corner.

“The site of the Tremont is centrally located within the Lansdale business district. It contains multiple small businesses, which are currently advertising employment opportunities, within walkable distance of the former Tremont,” Vorwerk said. He then noted that the downtown Lansdale site is also closer to both rail and bus stations, food stores, a supermarket, and houses of worship and fitness centers, and would need less parking compared to the Pennbrook Parkway site.

“I implore you to ask the county commissioners to consider transferring the Walters Group’s federal and state subsidies to a project that would better be suited at the Broad and Main Street location in Lansdale,” he said. “Why does it appear that it’s the intent of this board to shoulder the burden of the county’s agenda on its own?”

Justin Griffith said he’s lived in the township for 18 years and said he thought the development was “a Trojan Horse,” with the federal tax credits the developer has said will back the project only profiting that company and not the residents.

“What they aren’t telling you is that this low-income housing tax credit is noting more than a special interest tax break for developers, corporations, and it’s rife with abuse and corruption. The benefits of this tax credit are supposed to flow to the tenants, in the form of cheap rent, but studies suggest that developer and financial companies are the ones who gain the most benefit,” he said.

Developers who receive the credits “nearly always” sell those credits to large banks, Griffith said, with “the complexity of the rules and regulations” often causing delays in construction, and similar projects in other states have taken up to twice as long to build, with construction costs higher than market-rate projects.

“The program is aimed at helping people, but the bulk of the administrative costs go to lawyers, accountants and developers, not the workforce,” he said; “NPR interviewed assistant U.S. attorney Michael Sherwin, who tracked LIHTC for years, and he said ‘the program has been described as a subterranean ATM, and only developers know the PIN.'”

At the start of the commissioners meeting, board President Denise Hull read a prepared statement announcing that the board has learned “we made an error when adopting the map amendment” relating to the project. The township’s solicitor has advised that, “if the applicant would like to proceed with the project, the map amendment will need to be re-advertised and reconsidered at a future date. At this time, no action is pending. If and when the applicant would like to proceed, we will make an announcement accordingly,” and the text amendment is not affected by the error.

Resident Linda Smith asked in her public comments why the board allowed over an hour of time to non-township residents during the Aug. 22 meeting to speak in favor of the Pennbrook project, and said she thought the board was listening more to the developer than residents, before asking if the board’s comparison to the nearby Station Square development was a valid one, since the latter is market-rate and not subsidized, and if the board “put out an all-point-bulletin to Democrats” to speak in favor.

“Who are you sending over to Lansdale council meetings, to urge their borough council to promote TOD workforce housing at the Rite Aid site at Main and Broad? It’s a far better than the TOD at 1500 Pennbrook Parkway, in my opinion,” she said.

Viraf Jacob questioned the signs and statements in August referencing racism and hate, and said by his count during the August meeting, only six township residents spoke in favor of the project, with 14 non-residents speaking in favor, while all who opposed do live in the township.

“The sign said ‘Stop the hate.’ You don’t get it: it’s not hate, but love for our township, for our community, and the residents who live here,” Jacob said.

“All of the people who spoke in favor of this project, were all Democrats, and the ones who were against were a mix of Democrats, Republicans and independent residents of Upper Gwynedd. Elections are in November, and you people cannot win on policy. So you will play the dirty game of labeling other candidates, and throwing dirt at them, and attacking their character. America was always based on meritocracy, not handouts,” he said.

Glenn Hatfield asked if the board had any legal opinions that supported the legality of the zoning and map change: “Do you have legal opinions that say it’s not spot zoning? That it’s legal and constitutional?” Township solicitor Lauren Gallagher replied that she had issued that opinion to the board, and when Hatfield asked for a copy, said it was attorney-client privileged information.

“I have stated publicly, several times, that it is our opinion, based on our review of the available information, this is not spot zoning,” Gallagher said. Hatfield asked what legal precedent that was based on, and Gallagher answered: “There is, but I’m not at liberty to share that;” Hatfield replied, “I would encourage you to share that with the public as soon as possible. I think that’s their right, to know that.”

Upper Gwynedd’s commissioners next meet at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 at the township administration building, 1 Parkside Place. For more information visit www.UpperGwynedd.org.

See also:

Lansdale Police Say Mental Health Co-Responder Already Seeing Results

North Wales Borough Adopts New Zoning Map

Lansdale Police Working to Address Homelessness in Local Area

Lansdale Considering Zoning Changes as Rite Aid Closure Nears

Lansdale Officials Investigating Cause of Pungent, Sewage-Like Odor in West Ward