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Upper Merion supervisors weigh denser housing, road upgrades and open‑space tradeoffs in comprehensive plan workshop
Summary
At a May 7 zoning workshop, Upper Merion Township planners and supervisors discussed finalizing the Comprehensive Plan’s safety and economic sections and debated where to allow more housing density — around King of Prussia Mall, office parks and transit corridors — while raising concerns about road capacity and park maintenance.
Upper Merion Township officials on May 7 began narrowing choices for the township’s Comprehensive Plan, debating where to allow denser housing, how to preserve open space and whether zoning changes are needed to unlock key parcels near transit and commercial hubs.
Township Planner Jarrett Lash told the Board the Comprehensive Plan still needs three sections finalized — Township Safety, Economic Stability and the future Land Use Map — and walked elected officials through historical maps from 1940, 1967 and 1986 as part of an exercise to shape a 20‑year vision. Lash said the Planning Commission and one absent supervisor have already provided input and asked the remaining board members to indicate their direction.
Why it matters: the Board’s choices about where to allow apartments, townhomes or mixed‑use development will shape traffic, open‑space needs and the future market for commercial property near the King of Prussia (KOP) Mall and other nodes.
Board members offered a mix of locations and approaches. Supervisor Greg Philips proposed apartments near the KOP Mall and at the Overlook (site of the movie theater), suggested housing at the Crown Plaza and said a now‑inactive quarry off Church and Saulin Boulevard could support high‑rise development. Supervisor Greg Waks proposed townhomes in Swedeland and Swedesburg and noted Renaissance Park has vacant office buildings that could convert to housing.
Planner Lash highlighted Queens Drive and Shoemaker Road as corridors that are transit‑oriented but currently “stuck in time,” and recommended reconnecting Shoemaker to create a more walkable grid. Township Manager Anthony Hamaday flagged a roughly 10‑acre property owned by Glaxo near the 202 extension that sits close to the train station and stores but is zoned Heavy Industrial; Lash said the land’s value exceeding the building’s value signals current zoning may be constraining market potential.
Transportation capacity and infrastructure funding were recurring concerns. Board members noted S. Gulph Road would likely need to be widened to accommodate more development but said the Transportation Authority lacks funds; Hamaday observed PennDOT could still choose to complete the Schuylkill Parkway connection in the future, changing accessibility for some parcels.
Officials also debated how to preserve open space while adding housing. Waks urged adding public open space to offset density; Philips proposed developer incentives such as cluster development and said homeowners’ associations could maintain park space created within developments. Chairperson Tina Garzillo expressed concern that additional parks could increase township maintenance costs.
The workshop included a brief public comment from a resident and Planning Commission member who said she would like high‑rise buildings so Upper Merion would 'stand out' along the expressway; Chairperson Garzillo replied she did not want an urban look in the township.
The meeting concluded without votes on zoning changes. The Board moved the conversation forward through the mapping exercise and flagged several specific follow‑ups for staff, including further review of transit‑adjacent parcels, consideration of development‑bonus approaches that preserve open space, and clarification of road widening options tied to funding constraints. The meeting adjourned at 7:18 p.m.
