A row of posts, some with ‘No Trespassing’ signs, stands at 817 West Main Street on the site of a proposed apartment building project, as seen on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. Photo by Dan Sokil | The Reporter.
Proposed apartment building being discussed by boards
A new addition on Lansdale’s Main Street has caught the eye of borough officials, as talks continue on what could be a big project.
Council’s Code committee heard an update last week on plans for a new apartment building at 817 West Main Street, and a makeshift barrier that’s appeared on the site.
“Are we in receipt of a permit for 817 West Main Street for a fence?” said councilman Mike Yetter.
“I don’t know off the top of my head, but I don’t believe that we are,” Director of Community Development Jason Van Dame replied.
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.
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 others chiming in with concerns about traffic and parking impacts, other vacancies in town, and the availability of housing in the borough and greater region.
A zoning hearing on the project slated for August was cancelled at the applicant's request, and while the project has not yet reached council for discussions, Yetter asked in the council Code committee meeting in early November about a series of posts, some topped with "No trespassing" signs, recently installed along the Main and Mill Street sides of the property.
"They have erected sign posts up and down the front and back of their lot. I understand they're trying to keep people from parking where they're not supposed to be parking, and I'm very supportive of the development they have coming forth, but it is ugly right now. And it looks like a fence," said Yetter.
"The legal definition of a fence doesn't require them to be connected horizontally, so I think it is a non-permitted fence," he said.
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.Near the site and after the meeting, a neighbor said they had been following the zoning hearing board talks closely, including concerns voiced about the driveway access to the site, amount and location of parking on the site for residents, and the proximity of the new building to the adjacent house.
According to Van Dame, he and his department are aware of the new posts, and would investigate whether a fence permit had been submitted. Regarding that project, he had little to report to full council or the code committee yet, but the project did receive partial relief from the zoning hearing board in October, and further discussions will continue at the code committee and council, with a conditional use hearing yet to be scheduled, then formal land development approval afterward.
"There is an ongoing land development project there, likely to be in front of borough council in the coming months, for a conditional use approval," he said.
Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 20, and the code committee next meets at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 4, both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine St. For more information visit www.Lansdale.org.
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