Limerick Township municipal update

The Limerick Township Board of Supervisors held its second February meeting on Tuesday, February 15, 2011.  Agenda items included discussion on the signage variance requested by the Tri-County Toyota dealership for their new building on Lewis Road, designation of open space in the township, and discussion of allowing Spring Ford Youth Lacrosse use of two fields at Limerick Community Park.

Tri-County Toyota has requested a variance for 226 square feet of signage (the current ordinance allows for 100 square feet) as well as a pylon and an electronic message sign on the property. General Manager Bryan Kreger and his attorney presented some architectural drawings of what the signs would look like when the building is finished. The signs include two Toyota logos, one on the side of the building and one on the front, and the words “Tri County” and “Used Vehicles” on the front as well as a pylon sign and an electronic message board component. Supervisors Neafcy and St. Pedro are opposed to any electronic signage, while Supervisors Shuler and DeWan are in favor of allowing it with restrictions on the type of messages and the speed at which the sign will change. Supervisor Sperring remained neutral on the issue. In the absence of a consensus on establishing guidelines, the board suggested to Tri-County Toyota that they come to a future meeting with some alternatives for them to consider.

The board voted to accept 39 acres of land at Sunset Road and North Limerick Road, known as Faircrest Estates or Faircrest Farms, as open space. It is currently designated as untended open space, and will remain that way.

Township Manager Daniel Kerr presented a plan involving the lacrosse fields at Limerick Community Park that involves the Spring Ford Youth Lacrosse organization. The township had planned to close two fields at Limerick Community Park and move the lacrosse league games to Linfield Sports Park, but the league, which consists entirely of Spring-Ford Area School District students, is concerned that there is not enough parking at Linfield for an organization of its size.

League President Neil Pettinelli and Vice President Darren Rosenblum presented the township with a plan to take on the upkeep of the fields for a year in return for the township leaving those fields open for their use. Mr. Kerr stated that this would allow for Linfield Sports Park to be closed for a year in order to effect improvements, including increased parking and an expansion from two fields to four. The lacrosse league is also willing to discuss a long-term arrangement with the board for the continued use of Limerick Community Park as its home field.

Other items discussed were:

• The board appointed James Garrity of Wisler Pearlstine LLP as a Special Hearing Officer for the Conditional Use Application of ZacJacJen LLP.
• The board approved a request from Chief William Albany to obtain an untrained police dog and send the dog and a Limerick police officer through training at the Philadelphia Police Academy as well as outfit a police car with the necessary equipment for a K9 unit.  The dog will be trained in the identification of explosive compounds as opposed to narcotics. Asked about this via e-mail on Wednesday, Albany indicated that to be eligible for the grant money the police department is seeking from the Department of Homeland Security, the department must train the dog in explosives detection.