Task Force to Discuss Draft of Revitalization Plan

The public will have an opportunity to provide direct input with the newly drafted Upper Moreland Township Revitalization Plan before the township’s deadline in April.

The opportunity will take place tomorrow, Jan. 25, at the Revitalization Task Force meeting. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the.

“This is the time to take a look at it, this is the time to go through it with a fine-tooth comb,” Karen Houck, chairperson for the township’s Revitalization Task Force, said. “We do want to expedite this process, get this done, and not miss our timeline.”

According to Houck, who was speaking during last night’s Community Development Committee meeting the submitted draft went to the board of commissioners and task force, late last week.

The draft was created and submitted by Michael Narchowich, senior planner with the Montgomery County Planning Commission, who has worked closely with the task force since last fall.

The submitted draft is now available on the township’s website, and can also be seen with brief anaysis in a .

Reading a memo from Narchowich, the committee’s chairperson, Ward 4 commissioner Joe Lavalle, outlined the steps toward the plan’s implementation:

• After receiving first draft, receive informal review from county staff, as well as from the Upper Moreland board of commissioners.

• Revise plan, based on comments received, adding additional graphics.

• Narchowich will then make a presentation to the county’s Revitalization Board on Feb. 28.

• Submit finalized plan to county board of commissioners for adoption consideration.

• By approximately April 1, the township’s final implementation grant application is due.

“The good news is that we’re on time,” Lavalle said. “The bad news is it’s been a grueling schedule from the beginning, to this particular point, and, hopefully, until the end.”

Lavalle, also speaking during the committee meeting, said that every party involved with the formation of the new revitalization plan has proceeded with knowledge, and expects no impediments to finish out the timeline.

He encouraged the public and fellow commissioners to attend the Jan. 25 meeting, where it is expected that the majority of the revitalization draft plan’s tweaking and editing will take place.

At the suggestion of Ward 1 commissioner Lisa Romaniello, a second public discussion of the revitalization plan draft will take place, Feb. 13, as an agenda item during the Community Development Committee meeting.