Commission OKs twin duplex plan

Talks center on distance from street, road repairs

A plan to build new houses on the 400 block of W. Seventh St. in Lansdale has cleared a hurdle, earning approval from the borough’s planning commission Monday night.

“This is a redevelopment property located at Seventh and Jacob Streets, to build two two-unit duplexes, with parking in the rear,” said attorney Carl Weiner.

Weiner and engineer Tim Woodrow described the latest updates made to a plan that has been up for public vetting by the planning commission in recent months, and said they had addressed questions from prior planning commission meetings. The main change, Weiner and Woodrow told the planning commission, was whether Jacob Street was a public street and had a specific setback requirement, and they said they found their answer during talks with borough staff.

“We reviewed with the borough and the borough’s consultants that the median setback was 12-and-a-half feet, and submitted a revised plan based on that,” Weiner said.

“I believe our setback is now in conformance with the requirements of the zoning ordinance, and we have also reduced the width of the houses slightly to accommodate that additional space,” he said.

Review letters from the borough’s engineering consultant and Montgomery County have all been vetted and all conditions met, Weiner said, and the only variance the applicant is seeking has to do with the size of the stormwater pipe that will be used to carry water off of the

site. Planning commission member John Darab asked if that piping would be impacted at all by trees shown on the plans, and Woodrow said they would not.

“The laterals that we would install would be PVC (materials), so there’s much less of a chance of root infiltration than the old cast iron,” Woodrow said.

Member Mike Panachyda asked if both units would have access only from the front or also the rear, and Woodrow said both units would have access from both sides, a front door off of Seventh Street and a back door, with internal stairs to the second floor.

Commission member John Chirico asked if the developer or applicant plan to do any paving or widening

of Jacob Street as part of the project, and Woodrow said there were no plans for any major changes, but the road would be left in at least the same condition after construction as before.

“Certainly there are improvements that need to be made, but there’s no plan for a full scale widening or overlaying of Jacob Street at this time,” Woodrow said.

Borough engineer Chris Fazio suggested the developer and his team take a video recording of the condition of the street before any construction begins, to provide a record for comparison if any damage occurs, and Woodrow agreed.

“If something doesn’t go right during construction, we’re going to look at you all,” Fazio said.

“That certainly makes sense. Any cleanup that can be done, I think we can do that,” Woodrow replied.

The planning commission then unanimously approved the land development plan, subject to the conditions included in the review letters and with the condition that the applicant carry out any repairs needed to Jacob Street “by any damage created by construction,” in Chirico’s

words.

Planning commission members also heard an update on the revisions currently underway to the borough’s comprehensive plan, and were notified of a borough zoning hearing board case to be heard on July 17. In that case, a homeowner on the 200 block of North

Wales Road is seeking a special exception to construct a garage building of roughly 600 square feet, just over the borough’s limit of 580 square feet, according to borough staff.

Lansdale’s planning commission next meets at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 20 and borough

council next meets at 7 p.m. on July 18, both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine St.