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Industrial property owners tell CDC rezoning left longstanding Willow Grove tenants 'nonconforming' and at risk
Summary
Owners of three long‑held Willow Grove industrial properties told the Upper Moreland Community Development Committee that a 2024 rezoning to Business Center turned routine industrial tenants into nonconforming uses, creating leasing, financing and valuation uncertainty; they asked the township to consider rezoning, overlays, or targeted use additions.
Owners and representatives of a family‑owned industrial portfolio told the Upper Moreland Community Development Committee on May 11 that a 2024 rezoning of their properties into a Business Center (BC) district has left long‑standing tenants classified as nonconforming, complicating leasing and financing.
"Industrial Investments owns three properties located at 2385 Maryland Road, 2445 to 2465 Maryland Road, and 2255 Computer Avenue," said Julie Bondlesson, the law firm representative for Industrial Investments. She told the committee the company has leased the sites to industrial tenants for more than four decades and learned only recently — when a tenant applied for a use and occupancy permit — that the parcels had been rezoned in 2024.
"As long as they continue, one business could go out and another similar business could go into the property," Paul Patel, Upper Moreland Director of Code Enforcement, said during the meeting when explaining how nonconforming uses are treated under the code. But Industrial Investments’ representatives said the code leaves uncertainty about what counts as a "similar" use and how mixed, multi‑tenant buildings would be treated over time.
John Bound, a principal at Industrial Investments, said the three properties total roughly 184,000 square feet and host tenants ranging from plastics and HVAC contractors to a bakery equipment supplier and a climate‑controlled self‑storage facility. "All our tenants under the new zoning code are now non‑conforming uses," Bound told commissioners, describing potential impacts on leasing competitiveness and property values. His colleague, Rob, said banks and prospective occupiers shy away from properties where zoning status is unclear.
The company proposed several remedies to resolve the uncertainty: rezoning the three parcels back to Limited Industrial where appropriate; creating an overlay that would allow selected light industrial uses inside the BC district; or simply adding specific light industrial uses (warehousing, light manufacturing, assembly) to the BC permitted‑uses chart. Representatives emphasized they were not seeking heavy or polluting uses.
Township staff and commissioners asked clarifying questions. Patel said nonconforming status "runs with the land" and does not automatically end when ownership changes unless a use is abandoned or replaced by a different use. Committee members asked the applicants to provide a written list of the uses they propose the township permit.
The committee did not take formal action on the rezoning request. Chair Commissioner Dean Mullins said the CDC would keep the item on its agenda and reconvene the discussion at a special CDC meeting on June 15 at 7 p.m. at the Upper Moreland School District Administrative Building, giving staff time to review the applicants’ materials and prepare options for the full board.
The next procedural step is for staff to review the applicants’ proposed use list and for the CDC to consider rezoning, an overlay, or additions to the district's permitted‑use table at the June 15 meeting.
