Proposal for Red Lion and Pine Road Subdivision Development Continued

The May 7 Lower Moreland Community Development Committee meeting held a presentation, concerning the Red Lion and Pine roads Subdivision preliminary plan.

Representatives of the developer applicant JERC Partners previously presented a sketch plan on Oct. 9.

After the meeting, Lower Moreland Township manager Chris Hoffman explained the sketch plan is the initial step in the development process. The Red Lion and Pine roads project sketch plan provided developers with feedback from township consultants, the township’s Planning Commission and commissioners.

Hoffman explained that the preliminary plan is the next step and a more formal review of the project, which will culminate in a vote by the board of commissioners in a preliminary plan approval.

The JERC Partners May 7 presentation provided an overview for the intended use of the 48-acre property.

A Preliminary Plan

Pine and Red Lions roads, TEVA Pharmaceuticals, located on the Philadelphia-side; and the Huntingdon Valley Estates border the property.

According to Bill Reardon, the developer’s engineer from Bohler Engineering, the property will be divided between residential development and open space, with 30-percent dedicated to the former and 70-percent to the latter. Reardon had pointed out that the 70-percent open space exceeds township requirements of keeping at least 50-percent of the property as open space.

The residential property will consist of approximately 55 single-family units. The plan shows two entrances, one larger entrance located off of Pine Road in Lower Moreland and another entrance located on the Philadelphia side of the site along Red Lion Road.

Reardon noted that the plan included stop conditions throughout the site to discourage motorists from using the developments planned roads as a shortcut. Another aspect to the plan focused on the use of open space.

According to Reardon, the open space, a portion of which was most recently used as a golf course, will include storm-water management, a meadow landscape and walking trail. Depending on who owns the property, should the township board of commissioners approve the development, the walking trail may be open to the public.

PCBs and Ownership

Tim Woodrow, Lower Moreland Township engineer, complimented the presentation, but also expressed what he referred to as two threshold issues.

“For the most part, the plan is very well prepared,” Woodrow said. “Tonight, we are looking at larger picture issues.”

Addressing his concerns to Gary Emmanuel, the developer’s environmental consultant, Woodrow’s first concern was over the presence of PCBs on the property.

Emmanuel said that has been associated with developments of the property since the mid-1980s, when it was converted to a golf course.

According to Emmanuel, the property was used as an industrial site from the 1940s until 1987, when the industrial plant closed. News reports state that the property was the former site of the Budd Co. rail manufacturing plant.

In September of 2011, TEVA Pharmaceuticals would propose the construction of a distribution facility on the site, particularly on the company’s Philadelphia property. However, according to a phillyburbs.com article, the plans were halted in December of 2012 when TEVA’s CEO announced a reassessment to its global network and facilities.

According to a township official, JERC Partners purchased the Lower Moreland Township portion of the site for the purpose of the TEVA project.

As a result of the prior industrial use, PCBs, a chemical compound whose properties were once widely used as a flame retardant at industrial sites, remain present in the soil.

Through the committee’s discourse, it was explained that PCBs are toxic to the environment and may be hazardous to people.

Emmanuel noted that the PCBs are particularly present in the dedicated open space portions of the developer’s plan, away from the proposed residential units.

After the board of commissioners raised questions, such as exposure, runoff into on-site water basins and surrounding neighborhoods, Emmanuel explained that PCBs are contained to top soil, which the filler dirt intends to cover, and that the project plans will adhere to The Pennsylvania Land Recycling Program, also known as Act 2.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection website , the Act 2 program helps developers cleanup and reuse contaminated  commercial and industrial sites.

Emmanuel had said that at least 3-feet of fill dirt will be covering most of  the property to prevent PCB exposure and runoff, with more feet of fill applied as needed in some areas of the property.

Emmanuel said this was the case when the site was approved for recreational use as a golf course in the early 2000s.

“I want to see 2014-level standards,” Timothy Weir, Ward 3 commissioner, told the representative. Weir noted that the property lies within his ward. “It worked for a golf course in 2003, but that’s gone.”

While Act 2 also provides liability relief from such redeveloped contaminated sites, committee discussions between the commissioners and the developer representatives suggested that another entity, aside from the developers, may have responsibility over the property once the project is finished.

 One of the responsible entities may be the future Home Owners Association of the potential development.

Board of commissioners president Robert DeMartinis expressed his concern over liability in the likelihood of evolving environmental standards.

“What if standards will change in the future, and the Home Owners Association can’t handle it, and the Township must step in?” DeMartinis asked. He added that the plan is overall a good idea and great start to the property’s development.

Traffic and Public Comments

Woodrow’s second threshold issue was over traffic. According to a traffic study, presented by Ken O’Brien from the Township’s traffic engineer McMahon Associates, the intersection of Red Lion and Pine roads, sees heavy traffic conditions on a near-daily basis.

The study provided a letter-grading system, in which an A grade rated traffic conditions with little-to-no delay, and an F grade rated conditions as a delay for two or more minutes. O’Brien said the study showed that 55 new housing units would not significantly impact the Red Lion and Pine roads intersection, as the intersection has been graded with an F grade, specifically concerning motorists attempting to turn left.

O’Brien said that road improvements, including the creation of left turning lanes, would improve the intersection’s grade to a C, which may alleviate motorist wait time to less than a minute.

There were approximately 10 residents who attended the committee meeting, several of whom identified themselves as long-time residents living directly within the project area. The residents shared concerns over the environmental issues, and any increase of what they confirmed as already undesirable traffic conditions.