OPEN SPACE THE FINAL FRONTIER
MARPLE TO GET FIRST PEEK TONIGHT AT UPDATED PLANS FOR DEVELOPMENT
MARPLE» Township commissioners will get their first official public presentation Monday night of plans by Carlino Commercial Development to redevelop a chunk of the 213-acre site of the former Don Guanella Village off Sproul Road.
Following the commissioners regularly scheduled business meeting at 7 p.m., Sproul Road Development LLC will present their plan to the public and the board to create a mixed-use space called the Town Center at Marple Preserve, complete with a Wegmans Supermarket, a four-story senior living residence and a fitness center among other retail outlets on the 38-acre footprint of the Don Guanella site. Of the 175 acres of greenspace, nine will be converted to active recreational space with the creation of soccer fields.
The remaining 166 acres will be untouched, according to the initial plans.
Plans for the project have been submitted to the township, but no action has taken place as yet. Zoning variances have not yet been issued, either.
Monday’s meeting comes more than two months since project developers held an open house with the community to initiate conversation about the plan. The open house had a number of different stations set-up for people to see the plans and inquire about traffic, environmental and economic impact of the proposed redevelopment.
In a letter by project leaders Peter Miller, principal at Carlino, and Valley Forge Investment Corporation President Brian McElwee, the duo claim the town center, if built, would be a major economic driver for Marple on a land that has historically been exempt from tax collection because it was owned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. A July 18 economic study by Econsult declares the annual revenue to the township would be approximately $220,000, while at the same time adding revenues of $435,000 and $1.4 million, respectively to the county and the Marple Newtown School District.
But a bone of contention for a number of residents in the area were concerns about too much development happening at the site and, therefore, scaling back on the amount of open greenspace that currently exists on the tract of land between Sproul and Reed roads.
Save Marple Greenspace is an organization that has been active in preserving as much of the land as possible since an earlier proposal to develop the entire tract was shot down. Cardinal Crossing was Goodman Property’s failed efforts to develop the land in 2016. The group’s communications director Ken Hemphill said in a Friday email that Carlino is using “divide and conquer tactics” to get the “overly large” development approved.
“Wherever they put their foot down, they fight local residents who have the audacity to care about things like quality of life and their town’s character,” said Hemphill. “Carlino has had several ‘working groups,’ an ‘open house’ at O’Hara, paid canvassers, a cadre of very aggressive supporters who have attacked Marple residents for wanting to protect their community, several full page ads, and multiple township-wide mailers. They know their 47-acre regional shopping district is too big, so they’re trying to ram it down Marple’s throat.”
Despite the fact that Carlino has indicated they would restrict development to the imprint of the former Don Guanella tract, the group has opposed the plan, noting that it would still be bigger than the entire Springfield Mall tract and create serious traffic headaches.
Carlino President Peter Miller responded to Hemphill’s statement in a Sunday morning email claiming in part that Save Marple Greenspace has misrepresented a number of facts relating to traffic, the size of the development and Econsult’s financial report.
“Of course, in this context, we have reached out to the community in many meetings – both large and small – to convey the facts using actual data related to traffic, taxes, and the planning and place making considerations required to design and operate a properly-scaled 21st century town center,” said Miller.
Miller added that the whole of the project will preserve 78 percent of the entire property with new amenities, road improvements and no tax increase included.
“It is clear that Marple residents prefer an alternative to development under the current zoning, one that preserves the bulk of the site, cleans it up, makes it accessible to the community, builds new multi-purpose fields, and a playground consistent with Marple’s August 2015 Comprehensive Plan, while bringing amenities to the community on land primarily occupied by the decaying former Don Guanella Village,” said Miller. “We are hopeful that Marple will seize this unique opportunity to create a very important community amenity with significant fiscal benefits.
The commissioners will meet at Marple Newtown High School Auditorium at 7 p.m. with the Don Guanella presentation following their meeting.