Credit: Elly Johnson / Unsplash.com
Citing no 'formal applications' on the matter being previously submitted, solicitor, staff recommend changes
The Whitpain Township Board of Supervisors heard more via public hearing on the ordinance impacting “drive-through vehicle care facilities,” as a continuation from the July meeting’s hearing, which was tabled in order for the supervisors to have more time for consideration.
“After some concerns were raised, the board sent it back to staff to review those concerns,” said Whitpain Township Assistant Solicitor Gregory R. Heleniak at the open of the hearing’s continuation. “We’ve presented the board with a revised ordinance.”
As the matter was, in legal terms, a “second” hearing, Heleniak said some items may sound repetitive of the previous edition. For the record, he said some points must be repeated to go “on the record.”
“The impetus of [the change] was that the township received interest from multiple prospective developers for auto-related uses within the township,” said Heleniak. He said such inclusions would encompass car washes, oil-change facilities, and other “drive-through vehicle establishments,” such as quick-change tire and similar uses.”
As previously covered on Wissahickon Now, a particular developer, represented by real estate and zoning law attorney Christen G. Pionzio, said the changes were directly designed to hinder her client, owners of the 901 DeKalb Pike property, referred to as the Reed’s Town Country Store.”
Pionzio alleged in a July session that the changes would constitute a “special legislation” move, which is illegal in Pennsylvania, as it is, in short, creating laws to discourage or impact a particular individual or organization.
“Upon reviewing the zoning ordinance and the potential regulations that would apply to those uses, staff made a recommendation that more specific requirements were necessary to adequately regulate the safety and public welfare impacts that these uses may have, on both the public and the use of land within the township,” said Heleniak. “I’ll note for the record that, at the time that this, the initial ordinance, was presented to the board, an advertisement was authorized by the board, the township had not received any formal applications for use of this nature within the township.”
Pionzio had said in the July hearing that her clients had met with the township staff on April 3, 2024 in a “real think session, where you lay your cards on the table, and say ‘OK, this is what we want to do, are we facing any problems?’” The Whitpain Township Board of Supervisors agreed to advertise and schedule a hearing on the matter on May 21.
Pionzio added that, without any knowledge of such discussions of changes to the ordinance, the client had even met again with the township staff on May 22, regarding the architects to use for the project. The group, according to the lawyer, met again on June 5, where still “no one person mentioned this ordinance.”
Heleniak maintained that the ordinance was being discussed to “address those specific safety concerns,” which had been outlined in the special exceptions or conditional use criteria.
“It is deemed in both the designs, in the C-Commercial District, to be a special exception to be consistent with the regulations in that district, and within the Community Shopping Center Overlay District, it is designed as a conditional use,” said Heleniak of the drive-through services. “When the Community Shopping Center Overlay was developed, the uses in that overlay are all by conditional use, so that is to be consistent with the approval of other uses.”
As previously outlined, the updates to the ordinance included changes such as:
Heleniak said that there are around 30 properties in the aforementioned zoning districts that are deeded to have an excess of 1.5 acres, also noting this does not mean all space is considered “developable” acres, as spaces like easements or floodplains cannot be considered when totaling the figure.
The solicitor said that the recommendation from the Montgomery County Planning Commission was to decrease and initially higher figure for acreage, as the commission urged the township to lower it to be more inline with Whitpain properties.
How vehicles circulate and operate on the property had a lot to do with the changes, Heleniak said, including “stacking” or wait lines for vehicles both at entrance and exit spaces of the facility. Additionally, as Skippack and DeKalb pikes are major corridors in the township, he said “specific design criteria” was required.
“In the development of the Community Shopping Center Overlay District, the board of supervisors made a determination at that time, that due to the location of that district, as well as the developing nature of DeKalb and Skippack as the township’s major commercial corridors, that certain aesthetic criteria were desirable for future buildings to be developed there.”
He said that the changes to the special use and conditional use ordinances were done to more closely align with the CSCO language, aimed to have an “aesthetic consistency and character of the community.”
As for the client that felt the legislation was geared at their precise plan, Heleniak said this was not the case.
“Some concerns were raised related to a specific property in the township, and some case law was presented to the board at the last hearing, our solicitor’s office did review that case law,” said Heleniak. “We do not find that this ordinance constitutes what’s called special legislation under that case law. That case law states that a municipality may enact regulations within their zoning code that may inadvertently impact a specific property, provided that there is a justification for the safety, health, or public welfare that widely applies to all properties and all potential sites that may be subject to these regulations or may utilize this use.”
Heleniak said that the changes to the ordinances was a result of the “changing nature” of the commercial corridors of the township, primarily falling along DeKalb and Skippack pikes.
“It is recommended that this ordinance is adopted so that the uses that are presented, particularly drive-through vehicle care facilities, do not impact the improvements that are coming to the township,” said Heleniak, noting that a safety of use of such properties and a focus to not “overcrowd” properties “with high-intensive uses on “undersized parcels.”
Heleniak added that the only change in wording from the previous meeting was the removal of a requirement that the sites not be located on a corner lot. That language was removed, meaning property on a corner lot may be considered for such future use.
No public comment was heard during the allotted time, nor was there any additional comment or question from the board of supervisors. Supervisor and Board Secretary Jeff Campolongo moved to accept the changes as written, while Supervisor and Vice-Chair Kimberly Koch seconded the motion.
The motion passed unanimously with all supervisors voting in favor of adopting the changed language. For more on the previous public hearing, visit https://wissnow.com/news/2024/jul/25/landowners-legal-firm-calls-whitpain-ordinance-illegal/.
