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 Supervisors Grapple With Thorny Developments, Pass No-Tax-Hike Budget for 2019

Photos by Evan Brandt

The meeting room was packed for the Limerick Township Supervisors' last meeting of 2018.

Roughly 75 people packed into the township meeting room Tuesday night to hear and for the most part oppose two proposed commercial developments that neighbors felt would be too close to their homes.

The first proposal involves 28 acres at the corner of Buckwalter Road and township Line Road, just off the Royersford interchange for Route 422.

Developers want to build a 62,800 square-foot Restaurant Depot on 15 acres there.

The second controversial project has been in the works for some time, involves a zoning change brought about by a township mistake.

Originally, residential units were proposed for the 10 acres of land at 181 Limerick Center Road, it was discovered that no legal township record showed that the zoning on the map, as residential with a small commercial portion, existed.

Now, a truck servicing and cargo container manufacturing facility proposed for the site has the neighbors up in arms.

And when they weren't fielding comments from residents, the supervisors manager managed to adopt a $28.5 million budget for 2019 that does not raise taxes.

The preliminary site plan for Restaurant Depot that was
approved by the Limerick Supervisors Tuesday night.

Restaurant Depot

With few exceptions, the primary objections residents raised to this project have to do with traffic volume and safety.

The volume of traffic on Township Line Road is very heavy, particularly so close to the Route 422 interchange and the shopping center there.

And those who already live there know the perils of navigating the intersection with Buckwalter Road.

Resident Dave Edwards addresses the Limerick Supervisors
at Tuesday night's meeting.

"My kids call it 'the intersection of death" said resident Dave Edwards.

More trucks supplying and being supplied by the Restaurant Depot being interjected into the intersection "will create chaos" Edwards told the supervisors.

The developer has already agreed to add a left-turn lane on Buckwalter Road to make it easier for trucks to get back to Route 422 via Township Line Road.

But the residents say it's not enough.

Ironically, the developer, the residents and township officials all agree that what's needed it s left-turn signal at the traffic light that's already there.

Unfortunately, PennDOT does not.

Ron Lewis, speaking for property owner Larry Cohen, said he and township officials had met with PennDOT to ask for the signal. But PennDOT turned them down, saying it did not want to cause more traffic back-ups on Township Line Road by extending the time cars are stopped at the light, Lewis said.

Property owner Larry Cohen answers questions Tuesday night.

This is despite the fact that, much to the amazement of several speakers, no one had been required to, or bothered to, gather the statistics on the number of accidents that have occurred at that intersection over the years.

"In this case, PennDOT is the villain," said Supervisor Patrick Morroney.

Supervisors Chairwoman Elaine DeWan told the crowd that the plan complies with township ordinances and the supervisors have to treat property owners equally under the law.

The supervisors voted unanimously to instruct solicitor Joseph McGrory Jr. to prepare a resolution for preliminary site plan approval on which they will vote at their next meeting in January.

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

TP Trailers & Truck Equipment

The supervisors ultimately took the same vote on the other controversial development on the table Tuesday night, to instruct McGrory to prepare a resolution on preliminary site plan approval on which they will vote at the next meeting.

But that vote did not come without more than an hour of discussion and objections from residents of the housing subdivisions which surround the parcel.

The preliminary site plan for the TP Trailers project.

"It's like trying to put a square peg in a round hole to put manufacturing in a residential area," said Doug Clouding.

Tom Perkins, owner of TP Trailers and Truck Equipment, owns the parcel with his sister and has variously tried to develop it with 50 townhomes, which was rejected by the township, as well as a business exactly like the one on Ridge Pike, which was also rejected, Supervisor Ken Sperring Jr. said in July when residents objected as well.

In the wake of that wave of opposition, Perkins' attorney, Mark Kaplin, said the developers decided to submit a plan that requires no variances or waivers and meets the code in every way.

Township Engineer Khaled Hassan.

Concerns were raised about stormwater run-off, and any pollutants a manufacturing and truck repair facility might carry off site.

Township Engineer Khaled Hassan said there are many state and federal rules governing clean water issues and that the township would be inspecting the facility and testing the water there regularly.

But probably the biggest issue raised by the residents were safety and visual concerns posed by the fact that the facility will construct metal shipping containers and may stack them as many as three high, which would not violate the township zoning code that limits the height of structures to 35 feet.

"I just don't want to see the containers, it's an eyesore," said resident Gianfranco Cierri.

Mark Kaplin

Kaplin attempted to get first the neighbors and ultimately the township to agree to support Perkins' desire to get a variance from the township zoning board to allow sales to occur at the proposed site, as they do now on his business at 703 W. Ridge Pike.

If granted, it would "free up space" at the existing facility and thus make it no longer necessary to store the containers at the Limerick Center Road site.

Resident Dan Walker, who, with his wife Amy, had spearheaded much of the opposition to the plan, characterized that offer as "a threat."

He and several other residents called upon the supervisors to impose a condition on the site plan approval prohibiting the stacking of containers, something Kaplin said the township could not legally do and which would result in a court appeal and a loss for the township.

Hassan talks with McGrory and supervisors Kara Shuler,
 Tom Neafcy

 and Patrick Morroney during the break in
 the meeting Tuesday.

After more than an hour of discussion, DeWan called a "bathroom break" and, as McGrory revealed subsequently, he met with the supervisors "in groups of two," so as to avoid violating the state's open meetings law, and attempted to get them to agree to a compromise.

However, he was unable to get the supervisors to agree, he said.

McGrory then attempted to get Perkins and Kaplin to agree to limit the stacking of containers to two containers and, while he met with them to do that, the supervisors got on with the rest of the meeting, adopting the 2019 budget in

Limerick township solicitor Joeseph McGrory Jr., right, speaks

 during Tuesday night's meeting.
 At left is Supervisor Thomas Neafcy.

the interim.

When McGrory returned, he announced he could not get Kaplin and Perkins to agree to his terms, however Kaplin offered an alternative -- that the supervisors pass a resolution requiring that Perkins seek a variance from the zoning hearing board to allow sales at the Limerick Center Road site and, if successful, to not store any containers there at all.

But the supervisors rejected that idea, at least initially, because, as Shuler put it, "we have no control over what the zoning hearing board will do."

Shuler, who noted that it was already 10:30 p.m., then moved that the supervisors do what they had always intended to do, vote to instruct McGrory to draft a resolution regarding preliminary site plan approval for the project to be voted on at the next meeting.

After the meeting adjourned, McGrory said had may draft more than one resolution for the consideration by the supervisors.

And with that patient reader, I leave you with the Tweets from the meeting. It's 1:30 a.m and this local reporter is putting the head to bed.

Residential Versus Commercial