Town Center Project Once Again Takes Center Stage

As is so often the case these days at 2943 N. Charlotte St. when township officials get together to do the township's business, discussion turns to development issues -- the New Hanover Town Center in particular.

For the two people in town unaware of this project, the  Town Center is proposed on 209 acres bounded by Swamp Pike in the north, Route 663 in the east and Township Line Road to the west.

It was first proposed in 2015, under zoning created seemingly just for this project which remains controversial to this day, and received a preliminary approval in 2017.

The project calls for the construction of 779 dwelling units, some apartments, some townhouses and some single-family homes, along with 171,000 square feet of commercial space — at least as currently proposed.

They were in front of the supervisors last night for what had the potential to be a quick technical issue which, township solicitor Andrew Bellwoar suggested needed no action.

He said he interpreted the municipalities planning code, which governs development, to mean an April 22 deadline for a decision was meaningless because the project is now under review by the township's consultants.

Bellwoar also indicated that a meeting between the developer, staff and two supervisors had provided a framework to move forward.

But Marc Jonas, solicitor for the developer, had to have the last word and in what he said was an effort to be clear, proceeded to spark a conversation which turned argumentative and Jonas taking shots at Township Manager Jamie Gwynn.

Last month, Grynn reviewed for the supervisors all the ways in which the project has morphed over

The proposed New Hanover Town Center is located along

Route 73 to the north, Route 663 to the east and Township

Line Road to the west.

the years, the ups and downs of residential versus commercial, illustrating for the supervisors the maze that the township's consultants must navigate in trying to give a meaningful review.

"And this is where we start to go backwards," Jonas said as Gwynn began to push for the developer, R.P. Wynestone, to develop the project in accord with current, more stringent ordinances, instead of those in place in 2005 when the application was first made.

"Every time he starts to act like a lawyer, he sets us back," Jonas said, adding if Bellwoar continued to let Gwynn take this line of questioning "we're going to end up in litigation."

But at least two other township supervisors, Ross Snook and Kurt Zebrowski, said they too would like Wynestone to develop the property under current ordinances, something Jonas said would not happen.

"It's ridiculous," he said.

What's ridiculous, said resident Ben Lanyon, is building 779 new homes in a town already bursting at the seams with housing.

"Since I moved to this township, I have not spoken with a single person who thinks its a good idea to build 700-plus new houses here," Lanyon told the supervisors.

Supervisors Chairman Charles D. Garner Jr. did not disagree.

"Looking back 15 years, the supervisors at the time may have welcomed developers, did favors for developers and it was easy to get projects through," he said, adding, "and without that some of us might not live here."

"At some point, someone sitting up here must have thought it was a good idea to put a town in the middle of this township," said Garner. "And this is a big project and there are a lot of outstanding issues."

Garner said during a meeting between the developer, township staff and consultants and two supervisors, one of whom was him, he raised a number of those concerns, which he also shared Thursday night.

"The original plan had more commercial and office square footage, but the plan we have now has more residential. I think New Hanover has enough residential," Garner said. 

He also said be believes Township Line Road "should be totally improved and upgraded" and added that given the problems New Hanover continues to have with stormwater, that he hopes R.P. Wynestone will agree to apply the current stormwater ordinance to the plan."

He urged the township's traffic, planning and engineering consultants "to identify big issues, big picture items, and bring them to our attention."

As an example, Garner noted that rather than wait until the end of the process, that Montgomery County and PennDOT should be made aware now of the township's traffic concerns on Route 73 and Routes 663, which are county and state roads respectively, so they can be taken into account when its time for the developer to pull road permits.

In other matters, approved a new three-year contract for Gwynn, who announced that he, his wife and his baby girl are planning to move into the township. We'll have more on that once I get a copy of his new contract.

The supervisors also voted 3-2 to hire Alloy 5 to begin drawing up concept plans for new administrative and police township buildings.

And with that, click here to read the Tweets from last night's meeting.

Police Racism Probe, Quarry, Town Center, Were All on New Hanover Supervisors' Table Thursday

Photos by Evan Brandt

Land development, and developments (or lack thereof) of racism in the township police department are the items to come out of last night's township supervisors meeting.

Gibraltar Rock

One long-standing land development that has captured the attention of New Hanover residents is the Gibraltar Rock Quarry.

Township Solicitor Andrew Bellwoar updated the supervisors, and the public, noting that the to the massive project.

township -- and Paradise Watchdogs/Ban the Qaurry -- challenged the issuing of mining permits

He said there was recently a five-day trial before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board and briefs from all sides were filed. In the meantime, additional well and soil tests are being required at the adjacent hazardous clean-up site where groundwater pollution has added to concerns about the quarry.

The site south off Hoffmansville Road is a proposed 241-acre rock quarry and crushing operation on 302 acres of land.

In 2015, Gibraltar Rock purchased 82 acres adjacent to the Good's Oil site, moving potential quarry operations even closer to the site of the groundwater contamination which ultimately resulted in a $2 million extension of the public water system to 27 homes whose wells had been contaminated.

Township Manager Jamie Gwynn's spreadsheet of various changes made to the Town Center project.

Town Center

Township Manager Jamie Gwynn said a request by Supervisor Marie Livelsberger -- for a review of all the various variations of the New Hanover Town Center project -- revealed a whole set of inconsistencies.

Town Center is proposed along Swamp Pike where the
New Hanover Airport was once located.

In fact, there were so many, that he had to put together a two-page spreadsheet, show how, since the project received preliminary site plan approval in 2007, the acreage, the number of housing units, the square footage of commercial property, the number of parking spaces and even the amount of open space, have been inconstant flux.

"The numbers keep changing," he said. "There are math errors," some of which seem to be driven by the fact that the developers are not always counting "flex units," which have commercial on the first floor and apartments on the upper floors, when they calculate the number of housing units.

The crowd at last week's joint meeting.

"Our consultants have to keep navigating all these changes in the plan," said Gwynn, noting that the plan is now on its eighth revision. The latest version, said Gwynn, has a total of 779 housing units and eight fewer acres of open space, among other changes.

More than 100 people attended a joint supervisors and planning commission meeting last week where requests for 28 variances from township requirements from developer R.P. Wynstone were reviewed.

Supervisor's Chairman Charles D. Garner Jr. urged residents to stay involved and said Gwynn's analysis shows the complexity of the issues with which the township is contending.

"It's difficult for the five of us to get our arms around something that has been around for this long," said Garner. "We all know that this is an important project and I urge people to attend meetings where it is formally discussed."

Romig Road

The supervisors also approved a two-year extension for the preliminary approval granted t the project at 2481 Romig Road, but only after a robust discussion of stormwater issues.

I would give you the basics on this, but I can't find it anywhere on the township's most excellent website. And since everyone in the room seemed to know what it was but me, they never bothered to say how many acres, how many units or any of that quasi-important stuff.

What was clear is that neighbors of the project are worried about what impact the project will have on their wells, on stormwater and, of course, on traffic.

You'll all have to wait for The Mercury story on this one after I get the lay of the land.

NAACP and Investigation of Racism in the Police Dept. 

Tyrone Robinson, standing, reads a statement from the 

Pottstown chapter of the NAACP regarding its

involvement of the investigation of the police department

Yes, I admit, I "buried the lead," as they say in my business. But I had to keep you reading didn't I?

For those of you who have been asleep for the last five months, New Hanover made headlines in a bad way in when a Sept. 12 expose in Philly Voice magazine reported accusations of racism by Police Chief Kevin McKeon and Sgt. William Moyer.

The township launched an investigation and hired an outside attorney to conduct it, but almost immediately confirmed the results may never be known.

This is due to both the confidentiality of personnel matters, and of investigations. The only thing likely to become public is if disciplinary action is taken.

But that dynamic was disrupted the following month when the Pottstown chapter of the NAACP showed up at the meeting and offered to help with the investigation, noting that some potential victims might be more willing to talk to them than to someone representing the township.

Last night, several members showed up and Tyrone Robinson read a statement from the chapter complaining, among other things, that while they had provided information to the township, the flow of information had been mostly one way.

Robinson said Township Manager Jamie Gwynn and Solicitor Andrew Bellwoar had visited the chapter in Pottstown once, and chapter members had been to the township twice.

"But the township has given us nothing," said Robinson. "We asked to see a video we were told shows something of the alleged effromm incident, and we wasked for two other documents. We received no response to our request of Nov. 13 for those things and no response to two follow-up calls" to Bellwoar.

In that same Nov. 13 "private meeting with two supervisors, the solicitor and the township manager, we reported that it had been brought to our attention that racial slurs were allegedly used by police officers. That is of great concern to the Pottstown branch of the NAACP."

Here is video of the full statement:

"We have read the New Hanover Police Department mission statement, and we expect the township to live up to those ideals," said Robinson.

Township Supervisors Chairman Charles D. Garner Jr. assured them that the board had not lost sight of the issue. 

And with that, click here to read the Tweets from last night's meeting.

Pottstown NAACP Steps Into Investigation of Allegations of Racism in the New Hanover Police

Photos by Evan Brandt

Members of the Pottstown Chapter of the NAACP gather outside the meeting room Monday after addressing the New Hanover Township Supervisors.

The Pottstown chapter of the NAACP alerted township supervisors Monday night that it has opened an investigation into a complaint of "alleged racist taunts and retaliation coming from the police department in New Hanover."

The notification came in person from chapter president Jonathan Corson, who told the board "there are some things we've uncovered that we think the board of supervisors should be aware of."

Corson asked that the supervisors agree to sit down with the NAACP "to discuss what we have found."

Corson also addressed the crowd and said "to the citizens here, if any of you feel that your civil rights have been violated, or you know of anybody whose civil rights have been violated, please feel free to reach out to members of Pottstown NAACP."




Township Supervisors Chairman Charles D. Garner Jr. said the township "would be interested in hearing what you have," but said the board would first like to consult its solicitor about the proper way to move forward.

"As you may be aware, we currently have an investigation underway," Garner said.

Photo from New Hanover Township web site
New Hanover Sgt. William Moyer, left, and
Chief Kevin McKeon.

That investigation was launched in the wake of a Sept. 12 expose by PhillyVoice magazine in which
two former New Hanover Police officers outlined numerous instances of racist statements by Police Chief Kevin McKeon and longtime sergeant William Moyer.

The officers, Keith Youse and Dennis Psota, both of whom have retired from the New Hanover Police Department, made a broad set of allegations of racist comments by McKeon and Moyer, as well as accusations of intimidation and retribution against them.

Both Youse and Psota also confirmed the existence of a book in which many of these comments were recorded, particularly those by Moyer.

Both former officers said they had been targeted by McKeon after falling out of favor with him.

"Once you get on the wrong side of the chief, there's no going back," Youse told The Mercury.

The township has hired the law firm of Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman Goggin, with offices in King of Prussia, Allentown and Doylestown to conduct the investigation.

It confirmed that investigation in a statement read at the end of the Oct. 3 supervisors meeting.




In it, solicitor Eric Brown said the township supervisors "want to be as open and transparent as possible, or at least as much as the lawyers will let them be."

"As previously stated, it would be inappropriate to discuss or disclose information that is part of an ongoing workplace investigation," the statement read.

"The purpose of such confidentiality is to protect the integrity of the process, together with the due process rights and privacy of those involved. After a fair and thorough investigation, the board of supervisors will determine whether employment action may be warranted," the statement read.

But as The Mercury reported Sept. 30, due to the confidential nature of the investigation, unless the board decides to take action, the public may never know what the investigation found. And even then, the public may only know what action was taken, not the details of the investigation.

"In the event the board finds disciplinary action such as termination or suspension or demotion is

Former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Sandy Bauers told the
supervisors she is helping the NAACP investigate.

warranted, such action must be taken publicly as pursuant to state law," the township statement concluded.

And that investigation may be incomplete from the outset, two former journalists now conducting an investigation for the NAACP said Monday.

Sandy Bauers, who worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer for 30 years, and her husband Robert Bauers, who worked for Bloomberg News for more than 20 years, both told the supervisors they have concerns about the investigation.

Robert Bauers told the board that he had met with John Gonzales, the attorney conducting the investigation, "and he seems very diligent."

But Gonzales may not get the full picture because he is perceived as working for the township and

Former Bloomberg News reporter Bob Bauers told supervisors
he is concerned people may not speak to John Gonzales,
the township's investigator.

people are afraid to speak with township police and township officials he said.

He also said the scope of the investigation Gonzales has been hired to conduct remains unknown.

Garner asked Bauers if he had any suggestions, and Bauer replied "I'm not going to pretend to have all the answers, but I think you should talk to us."

After the meeting, Bauers said he and his wife has interviewed about 15 people so far who have had issues with the township police. "People are afraid to call the police when they need them. That's very big."

Sandy Bauers said the U.S. Census shows that New Hanover only has about 650 people who are not white, and reminded the supervisors that 13 Philadelphia police officers were recently fired after posting racist Tweets on Facebook.

Corson issued the following prepared statement after the meeting: "The Pottstown Chapter of the NAACP has a good relationship with the Pottstown Police Department, also the Montgomery County Chapters of the NAACP all have good relationships with the Police Departments within and near their jurisdiction. My hope is that the Board of Supervisors of New Hanover Township will meet with the members of the Pottstown NAACP, so that we can discuss the complaint that was filed with our chapter. The National, State, local chapters of the NAACP are not Anti-Police/Anti Law- Enforcement etc."

  Here are the Tweets from the meeting:

NAACP Weighs in on Racist Police Probe

New Hanover Town Center Project in the Crosshairs

Aerial photos courtesy of New Hanover Township

This photo shows some of the land clearing undertaken three weeks ago at the 209-acre New Hanover Town Center project site which has raised concern among residents and officials.

It was hard to find a parking place at the New Hanover Township building Thursday night.

And it became evident the crowd was there not because there was nothing good on TV (there wasn't), but because the supervisors had an agenda item to discuss the Town Center development.

An early conceptual drawing for the Town Center project.

Proposed on 209 acres where the old New Hanover Airport used to be located, if approved, the project would add more than 700 homes and 171,000 square feet of commercial space along Swamp Pike.

But there was an audible exclamation from the crowd when Supervisors Chairman Charles D. Garner Jr. announced that, at the developer's request, the matter was pulled from the night's agenda.

That does not mean the project was not discussed.

Engineer David Leh informed the supervisors, and the crowd that remained, that three weeks ago, it was discovered that the developers had cleared a wide swath of trees and ground.

"Acres of trees were removed and acres of ground were disturbed," he said.

Here is video of the clearance taken from a drone and provided courtesy of the township:



The problem with land clearing getting started is that the project does not have final site plan approval from the township. Not even close.

The project did receive preliminary plan approval for a very different plan in 2005. The larger, more recent plan was first submitted in 2017, but it has been changed at least five times since then, according to Township Manager Jamie Gwynn.

Leh said the township inspected the work and a Notice of Violation was issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The Montgomery County Conservation District, which oversees erosion control plans, also got involved and ordered some measures be taken to mitigate the potential damage from the clearing.

An aerial photo of tree clearing done on the site in March.

Leh said the work required by the conservation district was undertaken and the notice of violation may be revoked.

The developers have said they now intend to seek a township grading permit to continue the work, said Leh.

Just like soil stockpiling and tree removal that was undertaken in March, this work was done under the legal umbrella of the 2005 preliminary site plan approval, said Township Solicitor Andrew Bellwoar.

The grading permit will supposedly be used to construct stormwater basins on the site, that are legally "unrelated" to the eventual development.

Bellwoar told the supervisors that he warned the developers "any work done there is at developer's risk and if the final site plan approved differs in terms of the storm basins they are now installing, they will have to re do it."

Aerial photo  showing some of the tree clearing
that was discovered at the site three weeks ago.

Garner said "I know they are the property owners and they have certain rights," but he thought the township had an ordinance that would prevent clear cutting of trees or land on that scale without review and a permit from township.

If the township ordinances do not contain such provisions, perhaps it's time to change the law so that such review would be required, he said.

The item that was supposed to be discussed at last night's meeting had to do with whether the township would take dedication of the roads within the development once construct. Garner noted that request is contrary to the proposal in previous documents that indicated they will be private roads.

This aerial photo shows clearing and clearing near a wetland.

Even more complicated matters are set to be discussed at the October meeting according to Gwynn.

Garner suggested adding the matter of road dedication threatens to make the meeting unwieldy and could cause further delays.

He said the Town Center developers, with the clear-cutting, "may be acting within the law, but it seems like they're not acting in good faith with us, the way they ask us to act in good faith with them."

Resident Rusty Oister had a stronger reaction telling the board "it's begun."

He said "it seems like these developers are pushing us to the limit of the law. They do not have the township's best interests at heart. So when it comes time for them to ask for waivers and exceptions, I ask that the supervisors hold firm."

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

A Debate Delayed

Traffic, Parking and Stormwater in New Hanover

Photos by Evan Brandt

As is so often the case in New Hanover Township, the prime topic of discussion at Monday night's board of supervisors meeting was development.

In this case, a particular housing development proposed off Swamp Pike called Hanover Crossing was the project at hand.

Located on 33 acres on the North Side of Swamp Pike between Reifsnyder and New Hanover Square roads, the project currently calls for 71 unattached single family homes with two-car garages.

The property is owned by DTS Partners LLC of Collegeville.

The development, if approved as planned, would have no direct access to Swamp Pike.

Hanover Crossing proposes 71 tightly packed single family
homes on 33 acres north of Swamp Pike

It would instead connect to the existing cul de sacs on Colonial Drive in the west and Harvest Drive and Country lane in the east.

Both Harvest and Country connect to Burton Drive, which in turn connects to New Hanover Square Road.

The developers are seeking waivers to township ordinances, some of which have to do with how much traffic the new homes will put onto secondary connecting roads like Colonial, Country and Harvest.

Other waivers sought are for on-street parking and for the steepness of stormwater basins.

By keeping the roads in Hanover Crossing narrower, as planners
prefer, there is only room for on-street parking on one side of the
road. Supervisor Kurt Zebrowski said parking cars away from
homes is "not practical." (The little rectangles you see along
the outside curve represent parked cars.)

Sandy Koza, the township's traffic consultant said if the development were reduced by 14 units, it might not need the waivers to connect to the roads because that would be fewer cars.

However, Bernadette Kierney, an attorney from Hamlet, Mullin and Rubin who represents the developers argued that planners want fewer cul de sacs in residential developments to keep as much traffic as possible off larger roads like Swamp Pike, and they can't ask for projects to interconnect neighborhoods and then punish them for putting too much traffic on those roads.

Having received input from the supervisors, the developers will go back to the planning commission at its next meeting on Feb. 13, where a final decision on the preliminary site plan is expected.

Traffic and stormwater were also on the minds of two members of the audience who spoke to the supervisors.

Traffic Woes

Donnas Schaeffer told the supervisors that after 21 years in town "I'm finally starting to feel a quality of life change here in the township. Traffic is a major problem."

An early sketch plan for the town Center project.

She referred to a recent Mercury article regarding a study of dangerous intersections and said she could not believe that the intersection of Routes 663 and 73 had not been included on the list

It was explained to her that the study in question dealt with intersections for which plans had not yet been made and that the township has plans to add a traffic signal and turning lane to the southern side of the dog-legged intersection.

"We have enough money in the budget to do the project, but we're waiting to hear about some grants we've applied for," said Township Manager Jamie Gwynn. Bids for the job are expected to be let in spring or summer.

Still traffic in the township is on the rise and only looking to increase with the fate of the 400-plus-unit Town Center development still undecided.

A map showing active housing projects
in New Hanover.

The study Schaeffer referred to listed two smaller intersections in New Hanover, both on Middle Creek Road, that need additional controls.

Middle Creek and Congo roads can be improved with some signs, striping and making it a four-way stop, but traffic counts (both present and future) and the number of accidents at Route 73 and Middle Creek Road warrant some turn lanes and a traffic signal, according to the DVRPC.

As The Mercury reported in November, the U.S. Census Bureau currently estimates New Hanover’s population at 12,243. With no less than 26 development projects in various stages of the approval pipeline — with the potential to add another 5,982 residents to the mix — township officials are looking at a 41 percent population increase in just a few years.

As a result, the township is undergoing writing a new report on which to base an updated Act 309 fee schedule that will charge developers a fee for each afternoon vehicle trip their project is expected to generate to help pay for traffic improvements.

It is this fund, which now has nearly $2 million, which will help to pay for the improvements to the route 663 and route 73 intersection, Gwynn explained.

Koza said if approved, Hanover Crossing will have to contribute about $270,000 toward that fund.

Stormwater Woes

  Another impact of increased development, the supervisors were informed Monday night, is an increase in stormwater run-off as more and more pavement and buildings prevent rainfall from soaking into the ground. Given the near-record rainfall the region experienced this summer, the problem is particularly pronounced, said Darlene Eisenhard.

Douglass resident Darlene Eisenhard shows New Hanover
officials where stormwater problems are occurring near her home.

Eisenhard lives on Aspen Drive, just over the township line in Douglass, and she said stormwater controls from a development near her home are not working and not only is water backing up into her yard, but it next flows across the line into New Hanover.

"I can't use my back yard. My shed is ready to float away. We've never had it before and I've been here for 30 years. I know we've had a lot of rain, but we've had a lot of rain before," she says.

The stormwater basins that supposed to hold stormwater and release is slowly into streams don't seem to be working, Eisenhard said.

"Kids are kayaking in the swales. That's how bad it's getting."

Township Engineer David Leh promised to look into the problem.

Pool Work

New Hanover Supervisors also voted unanimously to issue bids for repairs to the Hickory Park Pool.

Gwynn said the 2019 budget anticipates the cost at $55,000, but said newer estimates put it closer to $80,000.

Gwynn says "pool bids are a tricky thing."  Because the project needs to be completed before Memorial Day in time for the pool to open, the tight timeline may increase price.

At the suggestion of Supervisor Ross Snook, the supervisors agreed to bid the pool project both to be done this year before Memorial Day, or to be done next year with more lead time, which could lower the price.

"Work case scenario, we close the pool for a year," he said, although Parks and Recreation Director Jessica Wilhelmy said the township may be able to get through another year with minor repairs if necessary.

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Traffic, Parking and Stormwater

New Hanover Wading Through Development Tide

A developer's concept for how to fit 65 homes, 27 single homes and 38 twin homes, on property off Rhoads Road opposite Liberty Bell Drive and Courtside Avenue. The original proposal was for 39 single family homes.

Yet another housing development has reared its head among the rolling hills and dales of New Hanover Township.

It's unclear if it yet has a name, all too often in memoriam of what it destroys, but here's what we do know:

• It proposes 65 homes, 
• 27 of them single 
• 38 of them twins, 
• and the township supervisors had a decidedly lukewarm reaction to it.

Specifically, Supervisors Chairman Charles Garner said he is not fond of cul de sacs and recommended instead, a "loop road." He said he would like to see the original proposal of 39 single family homes.

Supervisor Kurt Zebrowski, who also sits on the planning commission, said the closely packed proposal did not match the arrangements of the surrounding neighborhood. "It's like you're putting a city in the middle of a suburban development," he said.

Speaking of cities, it was announced last night that the massive New Hanover Town Center project, initially proposed at 852 homes and 210,000 square feet of commercial and office space on 209 acres off route 73, may be getting a little smaller -- by 82 units.

That same project is also seeking a variance from the township's zoning hearing board, to be allowed to have 58 fewer parking spaces than the 952 the zoning ordinance requires.

Without a plan before them -- the last one was submitted in February -- "it sounds like its a cart before the horse situation," said Garner. The other supervisors agreed and voted to send the township solicitor and any other staff required to the zoning meeting in opposition to the variance request.

And then there it Trotter's Gait and its ever-energetic attorney Joe Clement, whose attempts to wrangle agreement out of the supervisors has prompted Garner to initiate something he calls "the Joe Clement Rule," which serves to ensure the minutes indicate no agreement on anything without a vote.

In fact, a court stenographer suddenly appeared when Clement took his turn before the supervisors, evidently to take minutes that are hard to misconstrue.

Specifically, Trotter's Gait calls for the construction of 29 single family homes on a 13.5-acre lot near it's sister development, Pacer's Gait, which calls for seven single family homes on six acres both off Dotterer Road.

Discussion had to do with two relatively simple matters; a storm sewer extension through wetlands, and what defines a healthy woodland and would Trotter's Gait disturb it.

Despite the apparent simplicity of the issues involved, Clement kept the discussion going for nearly 40 minutes, including naming the many members of his family who are part of the development company.

Thankfully, two additional developments items on the agenda, Hanover Green and Hanover Preserves, were removed at the beginning of the evening, so we all got home at a reasonable hour.

Without further ado, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Homes and Parks Focus of New Hanover Meeting

New Hanover Looks to Future Growth, Future Needs

New Hanover officials spent their meeting Monday looking at development plans and planning ahead for the future of the township and its residents' needs.

As New Hanover Township officials contemplate the future, which includes as many as 37 housing developments and as many as 5,000 more residents, they decided they need to devote at least one entire meeting (and probably more) to preparing for the future.

Fortunately, they are in a good position to do so.

Its been more than 10 years since they raised property taxes and yet, there is a surplus of nearly 58 percent of the total budget available, according to Township Manager Jamie Gwynn.

"Either we lower taxes or use this money to prepare for the future," Gwynn told the supervisors.

The township, particularly the 12-officer police department, is outgrowing the space in its building on Route 663 and Monday night, the supervisors explored three options ranging in price from $3.8 to $5 million.

Some of those options include using the township's recreation center on Hoffmansville Road, others include renovating and/or building new structures at the current location.

Most of the supervisors favored keeping the township "campus" -- public works, police and administration -- together in a single location. Doubts were also raised about the Hoffmansville Road location being located further away from the southern part of the township where most of the new residents will live.

No decisions were made and an assessment of the current building, which is 40 years and and has a very leaky flat roof, will need to be undertaken before an informed decision can be made, they said.

The supervisors also got more informed about how best to preserve the open space that remains in the fast-developing township.

Gwynn used large maps to outline where the current developments in the pipeline are located, where the major open space parcels are located and suggested -- which the supervisors seemed to support -- the need for the creation of an open space committee.

The township has an earned income tax dedicated to preserving open space which now has $1.3 million. At the current rate, it will be $3.2 million by 2023 unless the township starts spending it on preserving open space.

The best way to stretch those dollars, said Peter Williamson, from Natural Lands, is to leverage conservation easements, which are cheaper than outright buying, and will also allow the leveraging ot state grants.

Here are the Tweets from the meeting:

New Hanover Pits Wider Roads Vs. Less Stormwater

The design for Trotter's Gate, off Dotterer Road

Discussion of a development project approved years ago for 54 townhomes, but now revised to 29 single family homes on 14.1 acres off Dotterer Road, dominated the bulk of last night's board of township supervisors meeting.

It came to the supervisors last night, after receiving a recommendation for preliminary site plan approval as a result of a prior 3-2 vote of the township planning commission.

Proposed by Blue Bell-based Mikelen LLC, the development is preferred by the supervisors, largely because it is fewer units, but it failed to obtain preliminary site plan approval from the supervisors last night, in large part because there were too many unanswered questions.

The new majority on the board has been critical of too many loose ends and incomplete work being done by developers in the township allowed by previous administrations and takes a newly tough line with projects these days.

Supervisors Chairman Charles D. Garner Jr. made clear the board had not problems with previous work done by this developer, but he and the other supervisors could not be persuaded by attorney Joe Clement to grant the preliminary approval with a pledge to comply with the many issues raised in the consultant letters.

One particular problem for the developer is the competing needs of wider roads and less stormwater.

Among the waivers the developer is seeking is for the interior roads on the project to be 30 feet wide, with parking allowed on only one side of the street.

Concerns about adequate parking and being able to get around parked cars are at odds with a desire for less impermeable surface. Wider roads means more stormwater and, as Clement said, that means re-designing the stormwater basins to hold more capacity and, as a result "they might not fit."

Ultimately, if the plan cannot be built as currently proposed, the developers go back to the approved plan for 54 town homes, but "e want to build this plan," Clement said.

Finally, after about an hour of wrangling, the developers agreed to ask for a 30-day extension on the plan while they attempt to determine of there is enough room for larger detention basins necessitated by wider roads.

And without further ado, here are the Tweets from last night's meeting:

No Tax Hike in $12M New Hanover Budget for 2018

Given that it has been 13 years since there was any kind of tax hike in New Hanover Township and 20 years since the millage for the general fund was raised, it probably comes as no surprise to long-time residents that 2018 won't be much different.

What is different, is the simplicity and clarity of its presentation.

Township Manager Jamie Gwynn got his first run at doing the budget his way and the result was applause by the supervisors and staff -- literally, they clapped last night after the budget was outlined.

(You can find it on the township web site or by clicking here)

If $12 million sounds a lot bigger than last year, that's because Gwynn has put all of the budgets for the different funds into one easy-to-read document.

So the general fund, which pays for police, parks and recreation, some public works accounts for about half in terms of expenditures, $5.8 million.

The capital fund calls for spending $1.2 million. The sewer fund will spend $4.7 million and the pension funds $192,000 -- all adding up to $11,993,403.

And if you want to know what the plans are for that money, check out Gwinn's "letter of transmittal," a 15-page letter that outlines major spending plans and other matters of financial interest.

Also of broader interest, the supervisors agreed to waive the land development process for the New Hanover Fire Company, which is constructing a station in the northern part of town to improve fire coverage.

They had been using the bays at the Sassamansville Fire Company, now only a social hall, but legal disputes between the two companies pushed New Hanover to build a new fire station.

There were also some back-and-forths with developers which you can read about in the Tweets below:

New New Hanover Web Site Offers Alerts and More

Photo by Evan Brandt

New Hanover Township Manager Jamie Gwynn shows off features of the new township web site Monday.

A better-informed community and more transparency into local government are the goals Township Manager Jaime Gwynn has for New Hanover’s new website.

You can check it out for yourself at http://newhanover-pa.org/

The website went live on Monday and that night, Gwynn had the opportunity to show it off during the township supervisors’ meeting.

“This is my third website, and I’ve learned from previous mistakes. I knew just how I wanted it to look,” Gwynn said after the meeting.

He laid out the site and “I think I logged 50 calls to the company that did the coding. I don’t think they like me very much anymore,” he joked.

The feature he is most proud of is the site’s ability to have residents sign up to receive emergency alerts, as well as other kinds of alerts — like for road repairs or special events.

The alerts can come via email or via text to your mobile phone.

And, in an effort to promote that feature, Gwynn has teamed up with local businesses along Swamp Pike to offer discounts to customers who can show they’ve signed up for alerts.

For example, those who show their signup to cashiers at Freed’s Super Market can get a 5-percent discount on their purchase; a free pretzel at Philly Pretzel Factory; a Wawa voucher or a gift raffle card from Complete Family Eye Care.

“This is an opportunity for the community as a whole,” Gwynn told the supervisors.

It’s also an opportunity for the community to get more informed, Gwynn said.

“The whole site is designed for ease of navigation to make it easy to find things like bill lists, tax and budget information, audits. There’s even a share tool, so you can send a link to someone else, and very soon we’ll introduce online bill pay for sewer bills,” he said.

Sandy Koza, the township’s traffic engineer who saw the site for the first time at Monday night’s meeting, took it out for a spin and exclaimed — “everything is so easy to find.”

The township has also taken on the herculean task of putting New Hanover’s many development projects on the website, but approved and in process. Given that New Hanover is one of the fastest growing municipalities in Montgomery County — this is no small thing.

“Ultimately, it saves time for the staff, because they don’t have to fish out the planning documents when someone comes in; and it makes things easier for residents to know what’s going on without having to come down to the township building,” said Gwynn.

But nothing stays static in the information age and Gwynn said he is looking for feedback from the residents, about what they like or don’t like on the site, on how it can be made even better.

You can reach him at via email at jgwynn@newhanover-pa.org or on the telephone at 610-323-1008. (By the way that information was super easy to find on the new website.)

Open Questions About Open Space In New Hanover

Photo by Evan Brandt

The scouts of Den 73 were lucky. They received their commendations for building a free library box and the collection of 400 books early on in last night's three-hour meeting.

When you only have one meeting a month, it can go long. Last night, the New Hanover Supervisors meeting went on for almost exactly three hours.

But it didn't take all that long for a little news to leak out.

It seems that the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board's feasibility study calling for a multi-use sports complex -- that would generate $100 million in economic impact in the first five years -- was interested in property in New Hanover.

The Wassamer tract, located behind the township building on Route 663 and purchased with public open space money to prevent a housing development, might a location to consider, according to the tourism board.

They were perhaps drawn to the location by the two-year-old master recreation plan which shows something like that.

So they called the township and a few officials went down to talk to them.

But that didn't sit well with Supervisor Charles D. Garner Jr., who wanted to know why the meeting happened, what was discussed, and why something like that would even be considered in New Hanover Township.

He also pointed out that given that the tract was purchased with tax money raised specifically for the preservation of open space, turning it into a mega-sports complex might not even be legal, much less advisable.

Commissioners Chairman Phil Agliano and Commissioner Andrew Kelly said it was just a conversation, no commitments had been made and Agliano apologized for not informing the board ahead of time.

In other news, the supervisors agreed to guarantee a $2 million loan for the sewer authority to replace the west branch sewer interceptor, adopted a hiring policy and fired an employee and suspended another.

You'll find it all in the Tweets below.

And Then There Were Ten (In New Hanover)

The New Hanover Township supervisors interviewed six of the nine people who applied to fill a vacancy on the board at the township recreation center on Hoffmansville Road, once known as Perkiomen Valley Academy.

 They're at it again.

Grappling with their second surprise resignation this year, the New Hanover Township supervisors met once again Wednesday in special session to interview candidates for the vacancy created by Ralph Fluharty's resignation last month.

And although township supervisors seem to be falling by the wayside all over the place, a whopping 10 township residents applied to take Fluharty's seat.

All the applicants are men. (When the supervisors replaced Doug Muller earlier this year after he stepped down in April, they chose the only woman to apply, Marie Livlsberger.)

Almost as surprising as the number of applicants, are the number of police officers who applied  -- three -- and the number of them who are police chiefs -- two -- as well as the number of them who are members of the Conshohocken Police Department -- two.

Interim Township Manager Greg Prowant provided the names of all 10 candidates. Here they are in no particular order:

Apropos of nothing, one of the

things I discovered last night is that

the rec center has a 'Little Library.'

1) Kurt Zebrowski,
2) Mike Millman,
3) Robert Schurr,
4) Michael Orler,
5) John Auman,
6) Patrick Calvert,
7) Keith Zegiestowsky,
8) Shawn Malloy,
9) Brian Hemmingway,
10) D. W. Boone Flint.

The last six on the list above showed up to be interviewed by the board Wednesday night.

Of those, one said he applied because he had heard rumors of corruption and politics on the board, although he could name no specifics. The supervisors thanked him politely for applying.

Another candidate asked what exactly it is the supervisors do.

You'll have to watch the videos to see who said what.

The first two on the list above are also members of the planning commission -- which was itself filling a vacancy on the same night, due to the resignation of none other than Supervisors Chairman Phil Agliano -- and so could not make the interviews.

Numbers three and four were absent as well.

Schurr is the police chief in North Coventry Township and Orler is the police chief in Conshohocken. Malloy is also an officer for the Conshohocken department.

Because they missed the interviews, the first four will be interviewed during the board's next regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 22. (There is a Pottstown School Board meeting that night as well, so it may not get covered folks.)

"This is going to be a tough decision," said Supervisor Andrew Kelly. "We have some outstanding candidates."

Below are videos that captured most of the interviews of the six who were interviewed last night: