East Rockhill Planning Commission backs lot-line adjustment for Pennridge Airport properties

The East Rockhill Township Planning Commission on Aug. 8 voted to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve a lot-line adjustment that would consolidate nine tax parcels associated with Pennridge Airport into five parcels, the commission minutes show. The plan covers about 150.44 acres and, according to the submission, would not create new building lots or propose construction.

David Nyman, the commission secretary, moved to recommend granting the applicant’s requested waivers and to recommend preliminary and final approval; Joe Chellew seconded the motion and, the minutes state, all present voted in favor. The applicant’s engineer, Andy Woods, P.E. of Hanover Engineering, attended the meeting and agreed that plan revisions would be submitted to address the commission’s comments.

Why it matters: The adjustment is intended to consolidate airport-related property and associated use restrictions into tax map parcel 12-9-149 (Lot 1). Two parcels along Three Mile Run Road that contain existing dwellings would remain as reconfigured Lots 5 and 6. The parcels lie within multiple zoning districts (I1, I2, S, and RR), and the commission asked for clarifications to ensure continued zoning compliance and clear recordation.

Key revisions the commission recorded that the applicant must address include: correcting an inconsistency in the Site Data Area Table and clarifying final lot labels; addressing frontage improvement requirements per Subdivision Ordinance Sections 22-505, 22-506, 22-512 and 22-513 (a waiver request dated Aug. 8, 2019 was noted); providing signed and sealed legal descriptions for rights-of-way offered for dedication; installing and certifying property and right-of-way monumentation prior to recordation; coordinating deed-of-consolidation recording with plan recordation to avoid creating nonconforming parcels; and obtaining verification or coordination with Perkasie Borough for tax map parcel 33-7-5 along Ridge Road.

Commissioners and staff also recorded multiple drafting and zoning clarifications to be fixed on the plan: include dimensional requirements for residential (B1) uses in the S zoning district (ZO Section 27-702); correct net and gross lot area figures for Lot 4 and list final net and gross lot areas on each reconfigured parcel across the plan sheets; update notary certification to reference both corporate owner entities; clarify line weights that indicate final parcel configuration, and correct several adjoiner tax map parcel numbers. The minutes note about 27 acres would be added to Lot 1, making it approximately 127 acres, and that split zoning on Lot 1 would remain.

The commission recorded that plans have been submitted to Perkasie Borough and that a meeting with the borough would take place the following week; the applicant is scheduled to appear before the Board of Supervisors at its regularly advertised meeting on Aug. 27, 2019 for further consideration. The commission’s motion and recommendations are recorded in the official minutes; the commission adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

Next steps: applicant to submit corrected plan sheets, legal descriptions, and deeds as requested; township staff to confirm waiver disposition and coordinate recordation steps and Perkasie Borough verification prior to Board of Supervisors action.