@LowerAllenCops
LA EMS Facebook
@LowerAllenDPS
Lower Allen Township Facebook

News Post

Home»Planning Commission Minutes»Planning Commission
1-15-19 Minutes

Planning Commission
1-15-19 Minutes

MINUTES

PLANNING COMMISSION:                                             LOWER ALLEN TOWNSHIP

REGULAR MEETING:                                                      JANUARY 15, 2019

 

The following were in ATTENDANCE:

PLANNING COMMISSION: TOWNSHIP PERSONNEL:
Samuel Bashore

Brian Wickenheiser

Jay Blackwell

Daniel Flint, P.E., Township Engineer

Dean Villone, Commissioner

Tina Thomas, Recording Secretary

Michael Washburn  
   

Mr. Flint called the January 15, 2019 Regular Meeting of the Planning Commission to order at 7:02 pm. He then asked for nominations for the Planning Commission Board for 2019.

REORGANIZATION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION

Election of Chairperson:  Mr. WASHBURN moved to nominate Mr. McCreary as Chairperson of the Planning Commission. Mr. WICKENHEISER seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

Election of Vice-Chairperson:  Mr. WASHBURN moved to nominate Mr. Magnusson as Vice-Chairperson of the Planning Commission. Mr. BASHORE seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

Election of Secretary:  Mr. WASHBURN moved to nominate Mr. Bashore as Secretary of the Planning Commission. Mr. WICKENHEISER seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

Following the nominations, Mr. Flint turned the meeting over to Mr. Bashore.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Mr. WICKENHEISER moved to approve the minutes from the November 20, 2018 regular meeting with the following amendment:  it should be noted that Mr. Clovsky abstained from voting on all of the requests for waivers for SLD Docket No. 2018-07, Land Development Plan for Rossmoyne Elementary School. Minutes will be amended. Mr. BLACKWELL seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

OLD BUSINESS  None.

NEW BUSINESS

SLD Docket No. 2019-01:  Minor Land Development Plan for Public Works Facility Building Addition

Mr. Vincent Wayne from Buchart Horn Engineers spoke about the proposed construction of a 9,065 square foot building addition at 1400 St. Johns Road. He stated that there will be 5 bays on each side and the expansion is over the current parking area. Parking will be relocated along the existing road. Existing impervious coverage in the yard waste area will be removed to make up for the parking. The storm sewer must be re-routed around the building.

Mr. Flint stated that a zoning ordinance study was done to determine the necessary number of parking spaces. It was decided that the number of new parking spaces could be reduced from 23 to 16. Five spaces near the office will not be affected. He spoke about the addition being fairly straight forward as it is taking place on top of already paved space. A memo was provided with some minor review comments from Steve Hoffman of the County Planning Department.

The applicant requested two waivers:  one from the requirement to construct curb and fill-in paving along street frontage, and one from the requirement to construct sidewalk along street frontage. This is due to the fact that there is nothing in place currently.

Mr. WASHBURN moved to approve the waiver from constructing a curb and fill-in pavement along the street frontage. Mr. WICKENHEISER seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

Mr. WASHBURN moved to approve the waiver from constructing a sidewalk along street frontage. Mr. BLACKWELL seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

Mr. WASHBURN moved to approve the plan for the Public Works Facility building addition and Mr. BLACKWELL seconded it. Motion carried 4-0.

SLD Docket No. 2019-02: Minor Land Development Plan for Capital City Mall Retail Outparcel

Mr. Craig Raynor of Pennoni Associates made a presentation on the proposed construction of a 7,000 square foot auto service building on Mall property, running parallel with Hartzdale Drive near its intersection with Capital City Mall Drive. Steve Hutchison from PREIT was also in attendance. The name of the business is Mavis Discount Tire Center. The amount of impervious coverage is being reduced by this addition, due to the planned connection with the intersection, and the upper corner of the paved area will have a landscaped island. The business employs 8 to 10 employees and typically has 12 to 15 customers per day. A stand-alone traffic study was completed, showing an increase of approximately 1%. There will be a loss of 84 parking spaces but an adequate number remain per code. The building is not required to have a sprinkler system due to its small size so a water line will tie in with existing utilities. A sanitary sewer hookup will be necessary due to two bathrooms on site. Electric and natural gas service will come through Hartzdale Drive. The tire center will have four bays along with a waiting area and an office area. The tenant has asked for more staging area by the bay doors. This pushed the building back a total of 6 feet from Hartzdale Drive with a loss of 6 parking spaces. This is a revision to the original land development plan that was submitted. Mr. Raynor stated that comments from the Township and County are being addressed without issue.

Mr. Flint spoke about the Township’s comments. He stated that approval is needed from the sewer authority and a Highway Occupancy Permit is needed from PennDOT for the sidewalk connection. Mr. Flint also passed along the County’s comments regarding sewage planning and pavement markings or possibly stop bars necessary for traffic control.

Mr. Wickenheiser asked if this project will cause any changes with the current path of stormwater flow. Mr. Raynor stated that they will be maintaining the current grading and storm sewer inlets. There is also the impervious area reduction.

Commissioner Villone expressed his surprise that Mavis is opening in this area as most of their businesses are in the eastern part of the state or the southern part of the country.

Mr. WICKENHEISER moved to approve the plan for the Capital City Mall outparcel and Mr. WASHBURN seconded it. Motion carried 4-0.

OTHER BUSINESS

None.

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 19, 2019 at 7:00 pm if plans are received.

Mr. Flint stated that the first meeting of the Pedestrian/Bicycle Committee is tomorrow night. Mr. Washburn is representing the Planning Commission.

ADJOURN

The regular meeting of the Planning Commission adjourned at 7:25 pm.