Limerick Vote on Truck Plan Angers Opponents

Photo from screenshot

The proposed truck manufacturing and repair facility, shown by the red marker, is opposed by residents of Bella Rosa Court, Parnell Lane, Perry Court and West Cherry Lane

Two controversial developments that drew a crowd of more than 70 to the Dec. 18 Limerick Supervisors meeting were back on the agenda Tuesday night for crucial votes.

But while those opposed to the TP Trailers and Truck Equipment plan on  10 acres of land at 181 Limerick Center Road, were out again in force, no one showed up in opposition to the Restaurant Depot proposal at the corner of Buckwalter and Township Line roads.

The Restaurant Depot plan.

More than a month ago, about half the crowd of 75 were there in opposition to the plan, saying it would add too much traffic to an already dangerous intersection.

But last night, no one spoke, no one objected and the board of supervisors quickly and unanimously approved the preliminary site plan for the project.

And although the end result for the TP Trailers project was the same -- a unanimous vote to approved the preliminary site plan -- the path to that vote was strewn with public objections and some spirited defense of the board by the board members themselves.

Township solicitor Joseph McGrory Jr. kicked off the deliberations by explaining as per instructions from last month, he had prepared two resolutions.

One approved the project without conditions, and another imposed the condition that the trailers (or shipping containers) be stacked no higher than two.

The problem, he said, is that the township has already determined that existing ordinances allow

The preliminary site plan for the truck facility approved last night.

structures to be as high as 35 feet tall and three stacked shipping containers are below that height.

In fact, it's the fact that the plan meets the zoning ordinance in every way -- no waivers, no variances -- that locked the supervisors into approving it.

McGrory said that despite "trying every trick in the book," he could not convince Tom Perkins, owner of TP Trailers and Truck Equipment, who owns the parcel with his sister, to agree to that condition.

To approve the plan and place those conditions, however "reasonable" they may seem, would simply result in Perkins lawyer, Mark Kaplin, seeking to overturn them in court, McGrory said.

Kaplin has said his client would accept those conditions if the township, and the opposing neighbors, were to back his client's intention to seek a zoning variance to allow him to sell vehicles at the Limerick Center Road site, which would allow the trailers to be stored at his other location on Ridge Pike, but the supervisors have not agreed to that.

As a result, they were left essentially with the option of voting to approve the preliminary plan without imposing any conditions. "If it were in my neighborhood, I would still have to vote for it," said Supervisor Elaine DeWan.

To vote against approving a plan that meets all the ordinances would not only open up the township to a legal action they would likely lose, it would also likely mean the township's liability insurance carrier would not cover legal costs, said Township Manager Dan Kerr.

It could even make the supervisors themselves personally liable, the supervisors said.

But for several of the project's opponents in the audience, that argument did not wash.

"You can never convince me your personal assets are at stake," said Bernard Enright of Bayberry Lane, who said he has worked in the insurance business for 30 years.

Preston Lutwiler speaks to the board about options after the vote.

Kevin Messerle of Hickory Grove Road said while he understood the position the supervisors were in, that voting against approving the plan would have been "the courageous choice."

"Breaking the law is not courageous," said Supervisor Kara Shuler. "I am not breaking the law for this township."

When resident Preston Lutwiler said the supervisors had taken the "path of least resistance," Supervisor Thomas Neafcy called the comment "a cheap shot."

At one point, resident Darren Thompson asked Supervisors Chairman Ken Sperring to recuse himself from voting because he has a business relationship with Perkins.

Sperring says as a business owner himself, he has purchased parts from Perkins but since, as McGrory confirmed, he has no financial interest in whether Perkins plan is approved or not, there is no conflict of interest requiring he recuse himself.

He said if the other supervisors want him to recuse himself he would -- they didn't -- and said it would not be fair to them to "escape" from having to take would looked like an unpopular vote.

ON  A HAPPIER NOTE: Girl Scout Zenia A. Masani was
recognized 

by the supervisors for achieving the
Gold Award, the highest honor 

available to Girl Scouts.
She organized a summer soccer camp for girls.

McGrory said residents have the right to challenge the approval in court, as well as the final site plan
approval, when and if that makes its way through the process, past the planning commission again and back to the supervisors for a final vote.

He and DeWan also suggested that residents show the same interest, and participate, in any hearings the zoning hearing board may hold if Perkins applies for the use variance which, McGrory said, "is very hard to get."

As the meeting wound down, Shuler said she and other supervisors were getting "brutally beat up in emails by people who don't understand our responsibilities. We have to think of everybody, not just the people who live on a particular street or development."

"Nothing about tonight made any of us happy," Shuler said. "We are the courageous ones sitting up here taking the beating. We get that you were upset about tonight's decision. We get that. Just cut us some slack. We have to take everything you throw at us and still try to protect you." 

Here are the Tweets from the meeting:
"I Am Not Breaking the Law for This Township!"

Limerick OKs Traffic Circle for Swamp Pike

The approval of the first phase of the proposed Limerick Town Center includes the 308-unit senior housing complex, shown above in gray, and the road improvements which include re-routing Swamp Pike through a traffic circle to align with Lewis Road at the intersection with West Ridge Pike.

For residents of Limerick Center Road, what was most significant about last night's Limerick Supervisors meeting is what didn't happen.

An opponent of the TP Trailers project
was on hand Tuesday with this flyer.

A controversial proposal for a trailer and shipping container facility at 181 Limerick Center was pulled from the night's agenda "due to a scheduling conflict with the developer," according to a posting on the township web site.

Instead, the project, which has won a recommendation for approval from the planning commission, will be on the agenda for the Dec. 18 meeting.

But that doesn't mean that news didn't happen.

It was just a little under the radar.

With no comment or discussion, the Limerick Township Board of Supervisors granted final site plan approval to the first phase of a 30-acre project that will eventually bring more than 450 new residences and a traffic circle to the intersection of Ridge and Swamp pikes.

With Supervisors Chairman Elaine DeWan absent, the plan for phase one of Limerick Town Center was approved by a 3-1 vote. 

Supervisor Patrick Morroney voted no.

The first phase includes Arcadia at Limerick Pointe, the 308-unit senior units — comprised of a mixture of independent living, assisted living and “memory care” units —  that is at the center of the project. 

But the aspect of the project that will affect the most people is that the first phase approval also includes the re-alignment of Swamp Pike, through a traffic circle, to align with Lewis Road at the intersection with West Ridge Pike.

Limerick Supervisors will hold
a special meeting Monday.

Despite vehemently opposing the traffic circle since it was first insisted upon by Montgomery County and PennDOT road planners, Vice Chairman Ken Sperring, without comment, provided the crucial third vote needed for passage.

Back in September, Sperring said he refuses "on principle," to vote for anything involving the circle.

However, with Morroney also voting no and Supervisor Ken Neafcy also absent at the September meeting, Sperring was convinced to vote to apply for three new traffic light permits from PennDOT that the project needed to move forward, after being re-assured there would be other opportunities to raise concerns about the traffic circle.

Tuesday night was one of those opportunities, but Sperring did not take it.

In addition to the the Arcadia building, the project also proposed about 160 townhomes and three retail buildings that have 32,000 square feet of space on the first floor, with apartments above.

The developers, Ridge Swamp Associates LLP, must still obtain permits from the Montgomery County highway officials, as well as PennDOT, but have already obtained crucial permits from the Montgomery County Conservation District, according to Township Manager Dan Kerr and Township Engineer Khaled Hassan.

In fact Hassan said the developers may begin doing some earth moving for the senior building quite soon.

As for the townhouses and commercial buildings, although they have been the subject of extensive discussions with township supervisors, no formal plans have been submitted to the township for either of those project phases, said Hassan.

And now, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Limerick Traffic Circle Approved

Plowing the Circle, Eliminating All Debt in Limerick

Photos by Evan Brandt

In order to keep planning for the massive Limerick Town Center project moving forward, three of four Limerick Supervisors agreed in concept Tuesday night to plow the snow from Swamp Pike and the new traffic circle that PennDOT requires and everyone hates.

After months of construction, the first meeting in the new $10.5 million Limerick Township buidding was a bit anti-climactic, no balloons, music of speeches, although that -- along with the requisite ribbon-cutting, coming in October apparently.

Of course it was a big night for Shaun Semmeles.

Limerick Fire Marshal Greg Breyer, right, presents
Fire Inspector 

Shaun Semmeles with his
Emergency Management Coordinator Certification Tuesday.

Semmeles is a fire inspector for the town and he and his family were in attendance as Fire Marshal Greg Breyer presented him with his basic certification as emergency management coordinator.

"With this certification, Shaun took it upon himself to see what the requirements would be and her surpassed them," said Breyer.

"He's really stepped up and helped us establish an Emergency Operations Center in the new Limerick Fire Station without spending any taxpayer money," Breyer said.

Here is a video of the presentation.



Congratulations to Shaun, but other things of import were discussed last night as well.

Perhaps of greatest interest is the Town Center project proposed for 30 acres at the intersection or Ridge Pike and Swamp Pike that includes more than 300 senior living units and 160 townhomes at the intersection of Ridge Pike and Swamp Pike.

In addition to the townhomes and the 308 senior units — comprised of a mixture of independent living, assisted living and “memory care” units — the plan also calls for three retail buildings that have 32,000 square feet of space on the first floor, with apartments above.
Last month, the township supervisors granted preliminary site plan approval for the project, moving it one step ahead in the land development process.

In order to win Montgomery County approval for the senior unit portion of the project, the township supervisors had to agree to allow the county to take ownership of the new roads that will be created by the project, but to plow those roads and the traffic circle that will be created and paint the traffic circle.

The township also had to agree to plow Swamp Pike to the New Hanover Township line.

Supervisor Ken Sperring, who has expressed his strong opposition to the traffic circle, said he opposes taking over responsibility for plowing and painting it.

"That circle will be a disaster, I've plowed for 20 years, plowing it with traffic coming will be a disaster," said Sperring.

But Supervisor Kara Shuler argued it would be better for the residents, and safer during snowstorms, to have the township take care of it than waiting around for the county contractor. Supervisors Thomas Neafcy and Patrick Morroney agreed with Shuler and Township Manager Dan Kerr said he would let the county know. 

Supervisors Chairwoman Elaine DeWan was absent.

The county will re-imburse the township for the plowing at a higher rate than PennDOT pays the township to plow state roads in the township, said Kerr.

All that is required now is approval by the Montgomery County Commissioners.

In a less interesting but arguably more important action, the supervisors voted last night to take steps to eliminate all township debt.

Assistant Manager Beth DePrete explained that with the $75 million the township was paid by Aqua PA for the sewer system, all township debt -- $3.5 million remaining on the Public Works Building and the $5.2 million borrowed for the new township building -- can be retired.

That will save the township $1 million in interest payments.

A remaining $3 million bond cannot be paid off until 2020, but the supervisors agreed to set up an escrow fund to make payments automatically until it can be retired in 2020.

With no debt, the township will also lose its AAA bond rating DiPrete warned, but the supervisors said with $55 million invested wisely, they have no need for a bond rating.

With that money available for capital projects and interest earnings, "I don't see us borrowing money or raising taxes for another 30 years," said Sperring.

And with that remarkable statement, I give you the Tweets from the evening ...

Eliminating Debt and Plowing a Traffic Circle

Limerick Talks Mobile Home Park, Community Park

Photo by Evan Brandt

Current concept for the master plan for Limerick Community Park, as discussed by the supervisors last night.

Name a kind of park, chances are Limerick Township Supervisors talked about it last night.

Mobile home park? Check.

Community park? Check.

Parking in the community park? Check again.

It was indeed a night to park it and considering the two combined meetings were more than four hours long, we were parked in our chairs for an awfully long time.

At 6 p.m., a hearing on "alleged violations" at the Ridgeview Terrace mobile home park on Ridge Pike were held, complete with lawyers and court stenographers, testimony and code citations.

Too bad it was all a big misunderstanding. Never underestimate the damage bad writing can do.

As the two-hour hearing wound down Code Enforcement Office Director Robert Loeper Jr. indicated that the letter he had sent to Morgantown-based GSP Management had been intended merely to alert him to problems on the property Loeper thought should be discussed.

But since the letter also said something about "could lead to violation notices," the lawyers got unsheathed and we had a little circus about long-standing problems.

Perhaps the best outcome of the time spent was the nearly 50 residents who attended the hearing. Many of them got to "have their say" about conditions which had been eating at them for years. In fact, at one point, Township solicitor Joe McGrory joked the crowd was there "to beat up on" owner Frank Perano, who said he manages at least 70 other mobile home parks.

It is probably a good thing Perano's lawyer agreed to withdraw the formal objection, thus rendering the hearing unofficial, otherwise Perano might have faced a charge of lying under oath.

At one point McGrory asked him if any of the mobile home parks he manages had ever been fined or subject of criminal charges and he said "not to my knowledge."

Perhaps he forgot about the $1.3 million the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fined him and his company in 2012 for violating state and federal laws at 73 facilities in three states, according to this report from WFMZ.

But enough of that ugly business. Let's move on to more bucolic pursuits.

The partial loop was the supervisors preferred option.

Toward the end of this marathon of a meeting, Sarah Leeper and William Collins of the landscape architecture firm Simone Collins walked the board through improvement plans for the township's Community Park as they now stand.

The park is already home to the Manderach Playground, a popular community funded park with its signature two-story tube slide, enjoyed by residents (and non-residents) for years.

After meeting with residents and staff, the firm began, Collins said, with the road that bisects the park currently -- Ziegler Road.

Some wanted it to no longer bisect the park, others wanted access on both sides, so the firm came up with four alternatives, the second of which was the one favored by the supervisors.

Called the "partial loop" option, it allows traffic to pass through the park, but loops it down around the parameter and, with proper traffic control devices, should keep it from becoming "a speedway" as Supervisor Ken Sperring said he fears.

Supervisor Kara Shuler made some suggestions about locating parking closer to fields, for older residents who want to watch their grandchildren play soccer, lacrosse, football ....

Collins said the team had received enough input to move forward.

Current conceptual plans, which have not yet been engineered, call for a long list of amenities including baseball and softball fields, tennis courts, bocce courts, three different kinds of plagrounds, a natural amphitheater and a community center.

You can learn more about it amid the plentiful, plentiful Tweets below:

Ridge Pike Plans and A Brief Gerrymandering Debate

The property surrounded by the red line is proposed for redevelopment.

There may be some changes coming to the intersection of Ridge Pike and Fruitville Road and Airport Road, but you'll only be able so see one of them.

A series of issues before the Limerick Township Supervisors Tuesday night gave a glimpse of what's in store.

The more visible of the two changes are plans to build two retail commercial properties and 19 single family attached homes on a combined 5.5 acres on the northwest corner of the intersection of Ridge Pike and Fruitville Road.

Its a site that has served as several unsuccessful bars and restaurants.

This plan shows two commercial buildings along Ridge Pike,

and the housing units in the rear.

Piazza Realty was before the supervisors seeking permission to raze that building and erect several new ones.

Both the commercial buildings and the town homes would comply with the zoning ordinances architectural design standards, the developers testified.

And a traffic study concluded the re-development would have no adverse impact on the intersection or surrounding roads.

The supervisors took the testimony under advisement and will render a decision within 35 days.

The other change coming is across the street and is, for the most part, invisible.

It turns out part of the property used by Triad Truck Equipment Co., on the southwest corner of Ridge Pike and Airport Road, is actually owned by the adjacent Pottstown-Limerick Airport and has been rented for years. The airport now wants to sell the property and Triad wants to merge the two parcels into one.

What was debated Tuesday was whether that should trigger the Main Street zoning streetscaping and landscaping requirements as will be undertaken at the other project across the street.

But over the strenuous objections of Supervisor Thomas Neafcy, the three remaining board members (Chairperson Elaine DeWan was absent) said it would be silly, since the truck company could buy the property, not merge the parcels, and would be required to do nothing.

"Time and time again, this board has had an opportunity to do the Main Street streetscaping and this board waives it. I don't understand it," lamented Neafcy.

As the meeting wound down, resident Oliver Kennedy presented the board with a copy of a resolution adopted by neighboring Upper Providence Township supporting a Constitutional amendment to have Pennsylvania Congressional and statehouse districts be drawn up by a citizens commission instead of the politicians who benefit from them.

Kennedy criticized the board for appearing to be ignoring it, just as new Supervisor Patrick Morroney was making a motion to adopt the resolution.

Neafcy lashed out at the criticism, noting that Morroney was reading from a prepared statement. "This is a set-up," he said.

Kennedy said he only asked the board to consider the resolution and Vice Chairman Ken Sperring, who was running the meeting in DeWan's absence, said the board would, noting that currently the issue is in the hands of the courts.

"It's been adopted by Upper Providence," said Kennedy, to which Sperring replied curtly, "this isn't Upper Providence."

There was no second to Morroney's motion and the board adjourned, after which Neafcy and Kennedy continued to debate the matter in the audience, each accusing the other of bringing politics into the issue.

Here are the Tweets from the meeting: