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Planning Commission denies access-drive waiver, forwards Ahmadiyya Cemetery plan with conditions
Summary
The Silver Spring Township Planning Commission denied an access-drive waiver for the Ahmadiyya Cemetery plan and forwarded the preliminary/final plan to the Board of Supervisors with required changes including added landscaping, a revised setback, new fencing materials and subject to staff and engineering comments.
The Silver Spring Township Planning Commission on Jan. 8 denied a waiver to allow the existing access drive for the proposed Ahmadiyya Cemetery and forwarded the cemetery's preliminary/final land development plan to the Board of Supervisors with several conditions.
John Melham, of Melham Associates, reviewed the plan and told commissioners that the driveway would see "only minimal use of 25 vehicles during burial services." Township Engineer Jonathan Robinson reminded the panel that the subdivision and land development ordinance requires a 24-foot-wide two-way access; the existing drive is 16 feet. Commissioners raised safety concerns about the driveway width and the turning radius at Wertzville Road, which members said does not meet the ordinance's 30-foot radius for safe ingress and egress.
Commissioner Doug McDonald said he was "not comfortable with the plan without changes being made to the access drive due to the increase in traffic, collisions and multi head on collisions along Wertzville Road." The Commission voted to deny the requested [SLDO 602.18] access-drive waiver. On a subsequent motion the Commission recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve the plan only after the applicant adds a row of trees for additional landscaping, adjusts the setback line, changes the proposed fence material, and satisfies staff and engineering comments.
The motion to forward the plan with those conditions carried. The plan had been reviewed previously at the November 2025 meeting, and the applicant added a waiver request since that review; commissioners said a revised plan had not been submitted for the current concerns to be addressed fully.
