Lansdale OKs zoning change for Fifth Street townhouses

 Plans for a new neighborhood of townhouses on Fifth Street have cleared a first hurdle.

Lansdale’s borough council voted earlier this month to approve a zoning change for a plan previewed last month on the corner of Fifth Street near Valley Forge Road.

“We have looked at this property over the years, and finally come to an agreement with the underlying property owner, who wants to sell,” said Chris Canavan, President of local developer W.B. Homes.

“They’re moving their business, and it’s no longer going to be the location of their architectural steel business, and we believe this would be a really good opportunity to provide additional housing options within the borough,” he said.

In early May, the council first heard details on a parcel located east of Valley Forge Road and south of West Fifth Street, which county property records indicate is roughly five acres and currently houses Architectural Steel, a steel fabrication business that specializes in steel beams, columns, plates, clips and trusses.  At that time, the code committee heard an outline of a proposed complex of 73 townhouses to be built along several private roads running through the site, and concerns raised by the committee include traffic, pedestrian crossings, sidewalks, and the size of the private roads, all of which would be addressed as plans are refined; later in May they voted to set a hearing date on the zoning change requested for that project.

    A family walks past a steel fabrication business on the corner of Valley Forge Road and West Fifth Street in Lansdale on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.
 By Dan Sokil | The Reporter   

During a formal hearing on June 18, Canavan described how the property in question is currently zoned industrial but surrounded by residential zoning, and has been on the borough’s radar before.              

“The location was considered within the Lansdale Borough comprehensive plan for additional residential, as part of the long term planning,” Canavan said.

Borough review letters have highlighted that property being noted in the comp plan, as did the Montgomery County Planning Commission when they vetted the zoning change request under the county’s current plan, the developer told the board.

“Under those plans, they called for residential development that would be in the area of 15 dwelling units to the acre. Our proposal meets all of those classifications, and we believe it’s a good opportunity to take what will become a functionally obsolete industrial property, and turn it into a functioning residential property,” Canavan said.

No formal land development plan has been submitted yet, but a concept plan presented to council shows several clusters of townhouses – 73 in all – running along each frontage of the site, an extended Fourth Street connecting north to Fifth, and a stream that runs through the site being channeled by stone walls behind one set of townhouses.

“Our goal would be to rehabilitate the channel, take out some of the vegetation and sediment that’s in there, and turn it into a feature,” he said.

In original plans, Fourth Street ran west all the way to Valley Forge Road, and the right-of-way to do so was vacated by the borough in the late 1960s or early ’70s, so the current plans have units fronting on Fifth Street but with entrances and driveways on the alley to the rear.  Sidewalks would also run through the site, including a bridge over the channel, and future talks would also address stormwater concerns.

“The site is very heavily impervious at this point. We will be taking much of the impervious away, adding some green space,” and underground detention basins and an aboveground basin or rain garden could be added as the plans are finalized, the developer said.

The early plans have been presented to the borough’s planning commission, which did give their approval to the requested zoning change, thus the next step to present to council, he said.

Council grills developer

Q-and-A was kicked off by Mayor Garry Herbert, who asked about the soil quality and any rehabilitation needed in the creek. Canavan answered that early environmental evaluation have indicated some “issues with the building,” and an estimated $600,000 expense to demolish and remediate it, “but there is nothing, soil-wise, that we’ve identified.” In the channel, he added, “the walls are in pretty good shape,” and silt has been identified that could be removed and would allow for better water flow and could help handle stormwater.

Councilwoman Rachael Bollens asked about noise complaints from neighboring properties, and Canavan said the developer would install a fence and landscaping to buffer their site from neighbors, and they have “talked a number of times” with neighbors about such concerns. Bollens then asked how many parking spaces would come with each unit, and Canavan said each unit would have a one-car garage and one driveway spot, with additional overflow spots elsewhere but exact numbers to be finalized as the plans are refined.

“That is something that, as we work our way through the development process, we’ll be open to addressing any of those specific concerns,” he said.

Canavan said the 73 units would be a mix of two building types, some stacked units that are “slightly smaller than normal townhomes” and would start around $400,000, with the rest townhouses in the $500,000 range, “with additional options,” he said.

County planners did raise a question of whether the site could include “a different diversity of different housing units, and could there be a way to diversify the price point,” and the developer “would be happy to have that discussion” during land development approvals following the rezone.

Flood of questions

Several residents also sounded off on the zoning change, and asked questions about the possible plans. Cindy Ervin of Fourth Street asked when neighbors could vet and ask questions about the plans if the zoning change is approved, and council President Mary Fuller said “you are free to express your concerns” to council, and to the planning commission as the plans are finalized.

On Ervin’s list of concerns: traffic using Fourth to bypass Main Street, parking along the new street, and whether large trucks would be allowed on the new road through the development.

“Especially with snow, there is no parking, especially on our side of the street. Back in the day, we only had one or two cars. A lot of these houses, we have four or five. Where are these people going to park?” she said.

Joe Dulis of Poplar Street said the creek runs just north of the site in question toward Fifth Street, and flooded in recent rains, before asking whether those floods would get even worse if the creek is altered.

“This proposal sounds great, but what happens if you clean up that section for your houses, the water downstream has nowhere to go,” he said. “Our backyards flood. The water coming down our backyard, floods everybody’s basement on Poplar Street. What is going to be done about mitigating that water that rushes through there?”

Ronald Roseman of Poplar said he had “about a foot of water in our basement” after storms this spring, and has had to add drains and pumps to try to mitigate it. “I’m all for building the homes, but the water issues has to be addressed. It’s going to get worse. It’s been worse, in the seven years since we’ve been here,” Roseman said.

Canavan answered, “We will need to go through a really rigorous review of stormwater management,” including borough and county reviews, plus state permitting, before final approvals, and stormwater basins and/or retention tanks could help slow that flow.

After the close of the hearing, council voted unanimously to approve the rezoning request, with closing comments by council President Mary Fuller.

“Something’s going to go in there, likely, anyway. I’m glad to hear that we’re thinking about traffic concerns, and stormwater management. I know those are largely regulated issues right now, and I have confidence in this contractor. We’ve seen it with other projects,” Fuller said.

“Just moving from industrial to residential I think makes sense, if we can improve the property, which would be the goal,” she said.

Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on July 16 and the code committee next meets at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 6, both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine Street. For more information visit www.Lansdale.org.

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