Salem Township Planning Commission tables multiple lot‑line and land‑development applications; recommends seven modifications for Demary plan

The Salem Township Planning Commission on Feb. 4 voted to table or deny completeness for several lot‑line and land‑development applications because owners or authorized representatives were not properly present, while accepting one application and forwarding a set of recommended modifications to the Board of Supervisors.

In the meeting’s first substantive action the commission approved the Jan. 7, 2026 minutes unanimously. When the Ross & Steel lot‑line revision was called, Joseph Ross and his daughter attended but the property owner, John Steel, did not appear and no notarized affidavit authorizing Ross to act on Steel’s behalf was presented. Vice‑chair Paul Holleran moved, and John Wright seconded, to table the Ross & Steel application; the motion passed unanimously.

Surveyor David Lentz represented the Jeffrey L. Demary lot‑line revision. The commission accepted that application as administratively complete and reviewed five requested exceptions to the township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO). After discussion the commission voted to recommend seven specific modifications to the Board of Supervisors. Those recommendations would exempt the post‑subdivision lot sizes from standard acreage requirements, allow setback and parking/isolation-distance variances for existing buildings and a holding tank, permit a 40‑foot private right‑of‑way in place of the SALDO’s 50‑foot minimum, and accept a surveyor‑preferred drawing scale. Commissioners also instructed the applicant to add instrument numbers, show lot areas on the plan, label the public water line, mark an existing 35‑foot right‑of‑way as “to be extinguished” and show courses and distances for a proposed 40‑foot right‑of‑way. The commission noted that the Non‑Building Declaration for one lot could not be signed until the township SEO inspects the holding tank.

"The first thing is to address all the requests for modifications," Chair Connie Mattei said while explaining the review process to the surveyor, and commissioners indicated those recommendations would move to the supervisors for final action.

The commission accepted the Crum‑Prascus lot‑line revision as complete and recommended approval with conditions. Surveyor Dennis Rosatti was asked to consolidate the plan’s statement of purpose, describe the side‑lot addition metes and bounds, join the added parcel to Lot 22 with a land hook, clarify that Totteridge‑area setbacks exceed SALDO minima, label utilities and private roads, provide separate owner certifications, and add a revision number and date.

The Tresco land‑development application was found administratively incomplete because it was submitted under the name "Tresco Companies" while the property owner is Tresco Paving Corporation; Solicitor Ryan Thomas advised the application must include correct ownership signatures and titles. The commission denied the application’s completeness and, during related old‑business discussion of a long‑standing Tresco lot consolidation, instructed the applicant to execute a deed transferring Plant Road (Tax Map Parcel 57‑04‑00‑0‑184) from Damimo Storage to Tresco Paving Corporation and to record an easement so parcel 57‑04‑00‑0‑005 is not landlocked. The commission also listed several plan notation edits required before the plan can proceed.

Other items: the commission noted that a previously approved modification preserved a 25‑foot setback for the Penn Home & Farm plan and recommended final plan edits; the Dunlap & Dunlap lot‑line revision and the Schlemmer land‑development plan (a proposed wedding‑venue project) were again tabled pending revised plans and outstanding SALDO compliance items; and resident Justin Lilienthal raised septic and water‑meter questions for properties he owns, which staff advised may require lot‑line revisions and clarified when backup perc tests are needed.

On an administrative environmental review item, the commission voted unanimously to complete and sign Component 4A Section C of the planning module for the Daniels Concrete Batch Plant project and directed Secretary Kelly Otto and Solicitor Falatovich to draft a letter documenting inconsistencies the commission noted; the minutes record that the DEP had previously rejected the component.

The meeting ended at 9:05 p.m.; commissioners set the next regular meeting for March 4, 2026, at 6:00 p.m., if there is an agenda.