Council Votes to Approve Health-Care District Ordinance

After closing a public hearing on an ordinance at which no one from the public spoke, Norristown Municipal Council voted to pass the ordinance 6 to 1, with Councilwoman Cathy Lawrence casting the lone nay vote in last night's meeting at .

The ordinance is intended to give council that would seek to locate in the proposed Health-Care District surrounding once the hospital is decommissioned and services are moved to the new Einstein Health Care System hospital being constructed in East Norriton.

The new zoning would prohibit detention centers, adult entertainment uses, tattoo parlors, check-cashing and take-out beer stores, pawn shops, Methadone clinics, substance abuse centers, social service agencies and other uses determined by council to be similar to those listed. Already existing stores and services that fall under the prohibited uses would be grandfathered in.

The ordinance also identifies the Heavy Industrial District near the waterfront as preferred location for such businesses and services.

Council received a letter from the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners asking them to delay voting on the matter to give the commissioners more time to discuss how the ordinance would affect the which is located on the border of the defined zone. The county is rumored to be concerned that the new ordinance would adversely affect plans to sell the building.

Solicitor Sean Kilkenny advised council that waiting on the vote would mean having to re-advertise the ordinance and might give some businesses or services that would be prohibited by the ordinance an opportunity to slip in under the deadline. Kilkenny suggested that it would be far easier to pass the ordinance now and make any needed changes later.

Councilwoman Lawrence said that her vote against the ordinance was not in opposition to the Health-Care District itself, but a deference to the county's request to delay the vote.

"My concerns are always the finances," said Lawrence. "I didn't have a problem with the language [of the ordinance] and it's not that I don't support the idea."

Lawrence suggested that council should have taken more time to discuss the ordinance and work with the county on its concerns.

Several other council members spoke in favor of voting for the ordinance that night, commenting on Norristown's lot in life as a magnet for the county's social services. [Watch highlights of council members' comments in favor of voting for the ordinance in our video section.]

You can read more about last night's public hearing at The Times Herald's website.