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Council to vote Monday on waiver for 4-unit Chestnut Street condo plan
Summary
A developer requested a waiver of formal land-development review for a proposed four-unit condominium at 944 Chestnut Street; borough staff and Cedarville Engineering are not recommending the waiver and council will decide at the next meeting whether the project should go through full planning commission review.
Pottstown Borough Council will consider on Monday whether to grant a waiver of land-development review for a proposed four-unit condominium at 944 Chestnut Street. The developer's attorney said the project would still meet subdivision and zoning requirements and that the borough engineer would perform a full technical review even if council grants the waiver.
The request matters because a waiver would bypass formal review and comment by the borough planning commission and Montgomery County planning staff; staff and the borough engineer advised council they do not recommend the waiver for a building of this size.
Attorney Richard Alquist, representing the 944 Chestnut Street owner, told council the firm intends to submit full land-development plans that comply with the boroughSubdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO). "We will comply with SALDO," he said, and noted any waivers from the subdivision ordinance would still require council approval.
Borough staff and Cedarville Engineering issued a review letter dated June 20 that did not recommend granting the waiver, and the zoning officer similarly advised against a waiver. Dan (borough staff) summarized that the project would require eight parking spaces and that, historically, council has not granted waivers for projects of this scale. The solicitor and staff said the waiver would remove the formal input of the planning commission and county planning but that the boroughengineer would still perform technical plan review.
Councilors expressed concern that bypassing the planning commission would limit public and professional input on building appearance, parking, landscaping and other site design items. Council agreed to put a motion on Monday's agenda to either grant or deny the land-development waiver request so members can vote after additional consideration.
If council denies the waiver, the developer will be required to submit a full land-development plan and return for planning commission review. If council grants the waiver, staff said any required engineering review and any specific waiver requests from SALDO would still be reviewed and could require subsequent council action.
