Politics & Government
Easttown Supervisors to Vote on Village of Berwyn's Future Monday Night
Monday Night's meeting has been moved to a bigger facility to allow more people to be heard comfortably.
The Easttown Board of Supervisors will vote on a comprehensive development plan for the future of the village of Berwyn during its meeting tonight. The plan under consideration has been developed over the past year-and-a-half and is designed to simplify zoning classifications and make the development process a little simpler for the future.
Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Marc Heppe tells Patch that the plan under consideration would reduce zoning classifications from six to three. The new categories would include: Village Business, Village Transition and Village Residential.
In 2012, the township commissioned a consulting firm to help develop a plan that meets the needs of future developers while preserving the residential aspects of the village that are important to local residents. Until now meeting the strict zoning requirements of six different classifications within the Village has sometimes proven a challenge that developers might not want to take on, potentially driving businesses to look elsewhere.
"This would create a comprehensive plan for the village going forward," Heppe explained. For example the maximum building heights for construction along Lancaster Avenue would be changed. Current maximum building height in the village is 35 feet. But for structures on Lancaster Ave, that is too short to appeal to developers. The new plan would allow for taller buildings, but something on the Village side of Lancaster Avenue would not be as tall as
potential new structures on the North side.
Essentially, the proposed plan tries to update old restrictions and make development in the village more competitive, while paying attention to the desire to preserve what's important to residents.
The supervisors have sought public input on the proposal throughout the process and would welcome public comments at Monday night's meeting.
Monday's Meeting is Moved Next Door to Hilltop House
To accommodate a larger-than-normal crowd, the meeting is being moved from the Easttown Municipal Building next door to the adjacent Hilltop House which has space for dozens more people than the Municipal Building.The meeting begins at 7 p.m.
The Village of Berwyn plan is at the top of the agenda following routine township business. If you want to be heard on the future of development in the Village of Berwyn and have not spoken up already, this is your opportunity.Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
