Grant application made for park improvements
Rezoning approved for Souderton Mennonite Homes expansion
One of the township’s parks could get a makeover if a grant application to the Montgomery County 2040 Grant Implementation Program is approved.
Historically, the township has not applied for the grant, but it makes sense to do so this year to do park improvements, Township Manager Jon Hammer said at the Franconia Township Board of Supervisors Feb. 22 meeting.
“Specifically, I’m thinking of Branchwood Park that could use an overall general facelift,” Hammer said.
The park on about 25 acres on Camp Road along the East Branch of the Perkiomen Creek currently includes frisbee golf, a playground, two covered pavilions, picnic tables and benches along the creek, a softball field, tennis and basketball courts, according to township information.
Hammer’s suggestion that the grant application be made was unanimously approved by the board.
The grant, which requires a 20 percent match by the municipality, can be for up to $200,000, Hammer said.
That’s probably how much the township will apply for, he said following the meeting.
“We still have to get an engineer’s report as to how much all the work would be, so I don’t have the exact number,” Hammer said, “but it would be up to $200,000.”
In another matter at the meeting, the board unanimously approved rezoning five houses on Reliance Road properties that adjoin Souderton Mennonite Homes, which owns the properties.
The rezoning, from the R-130 Residential District to the I Institutional District, is one of the steps in plans for SMH to expand health care and memory care facilities into the area that was rezoned.
Living Branches, the parent organization of Souderton Mennonite Homes, has voluntarily agreed to put a deed restriction on the rezoned property limiting the maximum height of buildings within 100 feet of Reliance Road to 40 feet, which is the maximum height allowed before the rezoning, Carl Weiner, Living Branches attorney, said.
“So while this will allow us to extend our use into properties that Souderton Mennonite Homes has acquired, it will not increase the height of buildings within that setback area,” Weiner said, “and that’s a restriction that is in perpetuity.”