Officials oppose relief for project near Costco
Developer wants to destroy existing wetlands, make new ones at a different location
LIMERICK >> Township supervisors voted 3-2 to oppose zoning relief being sought by a developer that wants to destroy existing wetlands and replace them with new ones in order to build nearly 300 housing units and commercial space at Lightcap and Evergreen roads opposite the Costco.
Supervisor Patrick Morroney was joined by Vice Chairman Michael McCloskey and Ken Sperring in a March 6 vote to send Township Solicitor Joe McGrory to the April 28 zoning hearing
board and speak in opposition to the developer’s request.
The developer is a Madison, N.J.-based company called MCD 2 LLC, which bought the 42.17-acre site in December from Delaware-based Sanatoga Interchange Assoc., LP, for $10. The transfer tax document attached to the meeting agenda calculates the value of the property at $1,786,686.
According to a March 8 memo issued by Greta Martin Washington, Limerick’s director of community planning, the developer is seeking two variances.
The first is from the ordinance section that states: “Lakes, ponds, wetlands or watercourses. These areas shall be left as permanent open areas. No development, filling, piping or diverting of such areas shall be permitted except for required roads.”
The second variance seeks relief from a requirement that “a township zoning and construction permit shall be applied for within 12 months after a variance or special exception is approved. Otherwise, such approval shall expire.”
The current proposal, the third proposed over the years, calls for the construction of 38,000 square feet of commercial space, less than previous proposals, and 273 units of one- and two-bed housing in 21 separate buildings.
It was presented informally to the supervisors last month.
Called Sanatoga Springs Phase II, a 2011 plan for the site called for 244,000 square feet of commercial space and 300 residential units.
The plan was revised in 2014 calling for 260,000 square feet of commercial space, but that project was never built either.
The current plan calls for “moving” some wetlands and an intermittent stream on the site to another location and the creation of “higher quality wetlands,” Edmund Campbell, the developer’s attorney, told the supervisors last month.
That particular characterization of manmade wetlands being of higher quality was disputed Tuesday by resident Amy Walker who sent in a detailed public comment about the wetland issue.
Walker, a Pennsylvania Master Naturalist, wrote to the supervisors that “destroying and then trying to recreate a wetland and creek is a bad idea and only benefits the developer and not our Limerick community.”
Natural wetlands have many benefits, Walker wrote.
“In addition to absorbing carbon and holding onto it for years, wetlands filter out chemicals in water that runs off from farm fields, roads, parking lots, and other surfaces,” she informed the supervisors.
She further observed that “the U.S. Geological Survey has studied natural vs. created wetlands and determined that they are not equal. Natural wetlands get most of their water
from ground water, while created wetlands get water from rainfall and can fail during droughts. Soils in created wetlands are typically more dense, which has a large negative impact on the survival of wetland plants. It’s extremely difficult to get the right soil water chemistry in created wetlands,” Walker wrote.
“Even restored wetlands are significantly less efficient than natural wetlands at total phosphorus removal. All you have to do is look around at some of the created wetlands in our area, and you’ll see they are dry, weedy messes,” she wrote.
She urged the supervisors to oppose the zoning variance being sought by the developers, three of whom subsequently voted to do.
Board Chairwoman Kara Shuler voted against sending McGrory to oppose the request and was joined by Supervisor Tom Neafcy, who said said: “let the zoning board do their job.”
In reply to a MediaNews Group query, Limerick Township Manager Dan Kerr wrote that the supervisors “voted to oppose the
entire application” to the zoning board and McGrory will speak against both variance requests.
The area surrounding the development is one of intense development. In addition to the Costco and Chick-fil-A directly opposite the Sanatoga Springs project, the Philadelphia Premium Outlets are just down the road.
Additionally, the $146 million Sanatoga Green mixed-use development project is currently under construction across Lightcap Road in Lower Pottsgrove Township.
That project calls for 457 housing units and two 60,000-square-foot medical office buildings. A worker was rescued from a trench being dug in Lightcap Road Wednesday where a new water line to serve the Sanatoga Green project was being laid.
With traffic at the adjacent Sanatoga interchange off Route 422 already fulsome, a $1.4 million project to add a new ramp is underway. Bids for the project, which is being headed up by Limerick Township, were approved in December.
A $2.1 million grant from
the federal government covered part of the design and implementation costs and the remaining cost, which came in $300,000 less than anticipated, is being divided between Limerick and Lower Pottsgrove townships.
The new ramp will allow shoppers leaving Costco and the Outlets to get onto 422 westbound without having to make the dangerous
left across opposing traffic on Evergreen Road.
The is expected to take about 10 months to complete and has been in the discussion and design phases for more than two years.
This article first appeared as a post in The Digital Notebook blog.