Police Called for Backup as Tempers Flare in Lower Moreland over New Apartments

Most township meetings in Lower Moreland come and go quietly without much commotion. Everyone says the Pledge of Allegiance, then the board members address the issues, go over their agenda and then everyone goes home. 

But when the topic is about , the local residents are going to make their opinions heard. And that certainly was the case Thursday night where the planning commission meeting was standing room only at the municipal building.

Many folks voiced their displeasure with the proposal and it resulted in a shouting match between planning commission vice chair Robert Costello (Ward 2) and a group of LM taxpayers.

Greenhill Group presented their sketch plan to the township for the first time and the vast majority of those in attendance weren’t in favor of anything representatives from the company had to say. 

The new complex – Huntingdon Station – called for two 3-story buildings and two 4-story buildings, a pool and a clubhouse that would cost approximately $1.70/square inch. So an apartment with 1,000 sq. ft. would run a resident about $1,700 per month for rent. They wish to build along the following properties:

• 3051 Philmont Ave. (Feretti Motors)
  
• 3001 Philmont Ave.
  
• 145 Tomlinson Rd.

“We’ve listed the assumptions as best we could,” a Greenhill Group representative said. “It’s based on known data. We know the rents; we believe we know the people. We believe we know the demographic and we believe we know the school consequences.”

Frustrations from the residents grew stronger with every word the developer said. Usually in these township meetings, people in attendance are asked to wait their turn to speak, however, sometimes the discussion gets heated and people tend to speak out of turn.

Those frustrations boiled over for Costello as he shouted across the room to a group of residents, “Keep your mouth shut or leave the room!”

Needless to say, this did not go over well.

One resident immediately retorted, “Watch how you talk to the residents of this township. Alright? That’s what you need to do.”

Other residents began to shout, “Respect us!, Respect us!”

People yelled over each other for a few minutes before order was called to the meeting. Many of their frustrations stem from previous projects that Lower Moreland has allowed to go through.

Costello requested for an LM police officer to come up to the meeting after all of the bickering was done. The officer stood in the municipal building lobby for the remainder of the evening.

The issues with township government have existed here. This isn’t anything new. The frustration grows with every new project that pops up in LM even after the residents have repeatedly said they do not want them here. Some examples are the Toll Brother’s apartments, the Wawa gas station and especially the Methadone clinic. Construction of these properties have some residents feeling like the board members don’t look out for their best interest.

The meeting came to a close three hours later when planning commission chair Linda Fogel said this plan could not be recommended as is. The usual issues with any development in Lower Moreland were brought to the forefront Thursday night. Greenhill Group was asked to make some modifications to their plan and present their new sketch at a later date.

Here is the summary of the estimated annual fiscal impact presented by the Greenhill Group:

Township Cost
a. Associated w/ Huntingdon Place
b. Associated w/ previous existing use
c. Net new cost (a minus b)

Note: One time impact fees, building application and code inspection fees paid by the applicant are additional revenues not included in the above estimated Township impact.

“My recommendation is we do not move forward with this plan as is,” Fogel said. “There’s a lot to look at with the density, frontages, traffic, schools and sewer systems. There’s so many things.”

As of now Greenhill Group isn’t sure if it will present the new sketch at the Feb. 7 board of commissioners meeting. There was a lot of information to process after the meeting.

“Were going to regroup and have that discussion,” Greenhill Group attorney Christen Pionzio said. “We need to sit down and go over the recommendations from the residents and the planning commission. We’re going to and see what road we’re going to take."