Cars drive by a vacant lot at 817 West Main Street in Lansdale, where a developer has proposed a new apartment and retail building, in June 2024. Photo by Dan Sokil | The Reporter.
Residents sound off on housing shortage.
A Main Street project that borough officials have dubbed “ambitious” is still on the drawing board, for now.
A zoning hearing slated last week on a project that would redevelop a vacant lot on the 800 block of West Main Street has been postponed.
“The zoning hearing board meeting for Tuesday, August 20 has been cancelled at the applicant’s request and will be continued to a future date. Once the new date is determined, postings will go out for the public,” said Lansdale Borough in a statement last Monday.
In June, borough officials first announced an application had been submitted for redevelopment of the property at 817 West Main Street, located between an ice cream shop at 813 West Main and the former Oasis restaurant at 821, and just next door to the former Charles Cleaners laundromat at 815 West Main that was demolished in 2015.
At that time, borough officials said an application had been made to the zoning hearing board seeking permissions for a mixed-use development, with commercial space on the first floor and residential units above, and requests for relief for the maximum height of the structure, reduced number of off-street parking spaces, relief for parking within a common area, and within the ten-foot buffer from the adjacent property line.
Cars drive by a vacant lot at 817 West Main Street in Lansdale, where a developer has proposed a new apartment and retail building, in June 2024.Those plans prompted plenty of chatter on social media, with residents speculating online about the numbers of units and parking requirements they had heard, and other chiming in with concerns about traffic and parking impacts, other vacancies in town, and the availability of housing in the borough and greater region.
"Something's got to give with housing supply. Either allow these projects to go through or the rents and property prices will continue to skyrocket," said Timon Willits in comments on the 'Citizens for the Revitalization of Lansdale' Facebook page. "I'd like to think that adding more apartments would lower the rent, but that's just not how it works," former councilman Ray Liberto replied, and John Henning added: "If this building gets approved, will you reduce your rental rates on your properties? 14 units in an area of 1,500-plus does not drive down the market. It's just a drop in the bucket."
"Speaking as a Realtor from this area, we do need more housing. I deal with this firsthand. I'm sure someone will respond with 'we need affordable housing' which I get, but the best way to combat that is to address the supply," said Chris Nelson, and Nicole Coco LaMaina said "That empty space can’t even fit 28 cars. The math ain’t mathin’ for parking spaces for a 14-unit apartment complex, let alone retail stores underneath it." Cindy Eyre Scheetz said she "would be all in favor of this project if these were planned as affordable units," and Dan Pancoast pointed out one plus, noting 'The Main Freeze’ ice cream stand is just next door: "I would eat ice cream every day for the rest of my life living in this proposed place."
A zoning hearing board notice gives additional details: the applicant is listed as Harshil Kakadia of Skippack, and specifies that the applicant is asking for the structure to be 42 feet high instead of the 40 feet permitted; is asking for parking "in the common parking area rear setback" and within the ten foot buffer from adjacent property lines, and says "the proposed parking area would abut both side property lines and the rear property line," while adding that the applicant "might also need relief...to allow projections into the required front and side yards."
Director of Community Development Jason Van Dame said after Wednesday night's council meeting that the zoning hearing originally scheduled for the night before had not yet been rescheduled, and the latest version of the plans had been modified based on feedback in a June hearing.
"They listened to some of the comments from the zoning hearing board, and the people that attended the meeting. They've made some changes to bring it back for essentially the same requests, but a lesser density," he said.
"Their request could be approved by the zoning hearing board, the zoning hearing board could deny their request, it could approve some and deny some — we'll have to re-notify people when that date is set, because it was not (heard) last night," Van Dame said.
Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 4, and the code committee next meets at 7:30 p.m. that night, both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine St. For more information visit www.Lansdale.org.
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