Planning commission opens phased study of Montgomery Avenue zoning to encourage transit‑oriented, "missing middle" housing

The Narberth Planning Commission on Sept. 8 began a phased review of zoning rules for Montgomery Avenue intended to encourage transit‑oriented development, missing‑middle housing types and options for modest affordability set‑asides.

The review will start with the 5B Montgomery Avenue commercial district and move inward to downtown and surrounding residential zones. Commissioners said they want clear recommendations for when and how additional height or density could be allowed, whether ground‑floor commercial should remain a requirement along the avenue and how parking and affordability incentives should be written.

The commission opened the meeting with a briefing by Jason Duckworth of Arcadia Landry, a developer that works on infill, walkable projects in the Philadelphia suburbs. Duckworth said developers often run into zoning rules that prohibit the building forms that attract buyers and tenants in walkable town centers. “We aspire to create new Norberths,” Duckworth said, describing projects that mixed missing‑middle housing (duplexes, alley‑loaded townhouses and small multifamily) with sensitive adaptive reuse of historic buildings. He showed case studies in Media and Doylestown that combined design controls,…