Royal Farms plans get conditional use OK

UPPER GWYNEDD >> Plans for a proposed Royal Farms fuel station and convenience store on Sumneytown Pike in Upper Gwynedd have taken a big step ahead.

The township commissioners voted Nov. 19 to approve the conditional use request from developer Hartford Properties, paving the way for the project to enter the land development process.

“Nothing in this decision of the board of commissioners on this conditional use application, shall be construed as either express or implied waiver of any provisions of any ordinance of Upper Gwynedd Township,” said Commissioner Denise Hull.

“No level of development is guaranteed by virtue of this approval, and development is permitted only if the fully engineered plans can demonstrate compliance with this decision,” she said.

Talks on the site at the northeast corner of Sum-

neytown Pike and Church Road have been presented in various forms since early 2016, roughly a year after the former Giant supermarket on that site was closed.

Developer Hartford Properties began making their case in a formal hearing starting on Aug. 27 that their plans for a fuel station and convenience store surrounded by two retail buildings should be granted conditional

use approval, and formal testimony from consultants continued through September and into October.

During the commissioners’ Nov. 19 meeting, Hull made a motion to grant the developer the conditional use application, and read a list of conditions specifying that no further land development approvals were granted yet.

“In order to ensure the compatibility of the uses on the tract, the following uses shall not be permitted without further application to the board: clubs, fraternal lodges, hotel, boarding,

rooming, tourist houses, garage or auto repair, new or used car sales,” Hull said, reading from the motion.

Other uses not allowed without further approval included undertakers, residential uses, a greenhouse or nursery, sale of lumber, plumbing, or other materials or supplies, the sale of fireworks, any other drive through facility, or a day care for children or seniors.

The motion further specified that the driveway access to the site from Church Road should not be moved any closer to the intersection on the corner, that the

applicant must demonstrate ingress and egress traffic counts during the land development process, and that businesses on the site will try to ensure no large delivery trucks use the site between 7 and 9 a.m. or 4:30 to 6 p.m.

Variances granted in 2004 for an earlier version of plans for that site, which would have put a fuel station and store in front of the existing Genuardi’s supermarket, “are hereby deemed to be abandoned,” Hull said.

Further conditions include that the developer install adequate signage for

traffic to circulate through the site, that the architectural style and materials in the buildings be compatible with the surrounding community, and that the applicant “shall design and install landscaping and a mini-wall, with ‘Welcome to Upper Gwynedd’ language” on the corner, Hull said.

After Hull read the motion and detailed the conditions listed within it, she asked for questions from the audience. The only question came from attorney Bernadette Kearney, representing the developer, who asked for her own copy

of the decision with the terms and conditions.

With no further feedback, the board voted unanimously to grant the conditional use approval. Commissioner Jim Santi voiced his thanks for attorney Jim Garrity, who acted as the township’s special counsel for that project.

Upper Gwynedd’s commissioners next meet at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 11 at the township administration building, 1 Parkside Place. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.UpperGwynedd. org.