Neighbors sound off about plan for sidewalk

UPPER GWYNEDD >> Nothing is finalized yet, but residents are sounding off to a new addition near Sumneytown Pike.

The township’s commissioners heard feedback from several residents Monday night on the latest version of plans for a 17-townhouse community.

“I just wanted to express my dissatisfaction against the sidewalk, tying Sumneytown Pike to Canterbury Drive,” said resident Jim McMullen of Canterbury.

“It really, from our standpoint, would serve no purpose, and would be detrimental to the development,” he said.

Starting in 2020, developer W.B. Homes showed plans for two 12-unit apartment buildings, on a parcel known as the ‘Jeppy Property’ of roughly three acres between 773 and 781 Sumneytown near Canterbury Drive. A first

draft of those plans was tabled in September 2020 for modifications after feedback from nearby neighbors, and in January and then February 2021 staff reported that a new draft was in progress. Staff then reported in March that the number of units had been reduced to 17 and in July that the latest plans were nearly ready for the commissioners.

Township planning and zoning officer Van Rieker gave an update on that project Monday night, after the board fielded public comment from four neighbors who live near the project site. Residents Shunda Irons-Brown, Allison Cardamone and Patrick Gavin, all of Canterbury, all echoed McMullin in voicing their opposition to a proposed sidewalk connection between Canterbury and Sumneytown shown on the latest plans.

“We are against the sidewalk, and we just wanted to reiterate that for the record,” Cardamone said.

Rieker then gave an update on the project, noting that the plan has now been dubbed “Wheatley Walk” by the developer.

“It’s working its way through land development, and it was tentatively scheduled for an August meeting,” he said.

“That meeting has been canceled. We have that online, but I want to make sure you all know about it. It will be, likely, heard in September before the planning commission,” Rieker said.

The plan shown at that meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 8, should be no surprise to residents who have been following the discussions.

“Really, nothing new. It’s the same plan you all have seen for two years, except it’s in the engineering, and final engineering, phase of it,” he said.

In response to a resident question about the sidewalk connection, Rieker explained it was suggested by township staff as a convenience, in keeping with the township’s recently-adopted comprehensive plan update.

“One of the goals of the comprehensive plan is to increase walkability, in Upper Gwynedd. It looked to us as an opportunity to have an applicant, a developer, pay for a sidewalk extension. It was really going to be a connection between the cul-de-sac and Sumneytown Pike,” he said.

“That’s how the conversation came up. Some of you were present that night. I think we all said, ‘Call Denise,’ call a commissioner, or call Sandra, or come out, because we did want to understand how you felt about it,” Rieker said, referring to commissioner Denise Hull and township Manager Sandra Brookley Zadell.

That comprehensive plan has been updated in a series of public discussions since 2018, and the latest draft contains dozens of references to adding sidewalks around the township: “For example, Sumneytown Pike is a common location where residents would like to see more interconnected sidewalks,” reads the plan on page 80, in a section on community transportation patterns.

“The purpose of it was to help Canterbury Drive folks walk to your commercial neighbors. That’s how we saw it,” Rieker said.

“I’m not saying I’m advocating it or not, but that’s how the idea began back in the day,” he said.

Zadell and Hull added that the residents can still share their thoughts on the sidewalk during the land development approval process, as the plans are shown to the planning commission and then the full board.

The neighbors asked if input from a recent survey of those residents would be taken into account, and Zadell said it would.

“I think that we’re pretty clear on what most of the residents think about the sidewalk,” she said.

“I’d be shocked if we got some different result from the survey,” Zadell said.

Upper Gwynedd’s commissioners next meet at 7 pm. on Aug. 17 and the planning commission next meets at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 8, both at the township administration building, 1 Parkside Place. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.UpperGwynedd. org.