Monday, May 6, 2013
The Lower Merion commissioners have to approve a liquor license transfer before the restaurant can open. A group of neighbors don't want them to.
A vote to approve the liquor license transfer that would allow an Iron Hill Brewery to open in Ardmore Plaza was tabled again on Wednesday by the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners. According to commissioner Steven Lindner and president Liz Rogan, the restaurant requested the delay to give it more time to address concerns regarding the impact the business would have on neighboring residential areas. The township now has until June 20 to approve or deny the transfer. While the vote was pushed, Rogan took public comment from a large crowd, led by a trio of pastors from Main Line churches, that was uniformly hostile to the idea of another restaurant in Ardmore. The concern animating each of the speakers was the danger traffic in the area …
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Lower Merion commissioners overwhelmingly favored plans for a new apartment complex, voting 9-1 last week to approve tentative sketch plans.
Lower Merion commissioners approved a tentative sketch plan last week for a 284-unit apartment complex that Commissioner Philip Rosenzweig called, in many respects, “a brilliant project.” Nolen Properties is proposing to build a 284-unit, 11-story apartment complex at 335 Righters Ferry Road in Bala Cynwyd. The property will consist of two buildings, separated by a swimming pool, as well as a landscaped area and large public gathering space. The land is less than half a mile from the former Connelly Containers site at 600 Righters Ferry Road, where O’Neill Properties plans to build a 593-unit apartment complex. That project, years in the making, also had its tentative sketch plan approved last week—though commissioners were decidedly more…
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Commissioners voted 5-3 in favor of O'Neill Properties' tentative sketch plan for 600 Righters Ferry Road.
After years of work, contention and compromise, a plan to build a nearly 600-unit apartment complex at 600 Righters Ferry Road in Bala Cynwyd has taken a step forward. Wednesday night, Lower Merion's Board of Commissioners voted 5-3 to approve a tentative sketch plan for the 593-unit complex on the former Connelly Container and Georgia Pacific site, which is west of Righters Ferry Road on the riverfront. The plan comprises two apartment buildings, a 340-space parking garage, 561 surface parking spaces, a recreational trail, a 9,665-foot public gathering space, and the use of Pencoyd Bridge for vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Board president Liz Rogan noted at a commissioners meeting earlier this month that the population from such a …
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Commissioners discussed the issue at Wednesday's Building and Planning Committee meeting.
Prompted by LA Fitness's recent request to operate a 24/7 gym in the Wynnewood Shopping Center, Lower Merion commissioners began discussion Wednesday on whether to limit the operation of 24/7 businesses in the township. "The township is often a leader in regulating and managing what happens in our community and I think this may be something that the board wants to very carefully but very seriously consider," said Board President Liz Rogan, who had asked that the matter be placed on the agenda. The purpose of discussing the matter, Rogan said, was to determine if commissioners were interested in having staff research possible limitations on certain types of 24/7 businesses and eventually present to the board specific concepts for how to do …
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The $58 million budget does not raise taxes for next year, but some officials foresee problems not far down the road.
The lack of a tax increase did not prevent Lower Merion’s 2013 budget-approval meeting from being a long, contentious affair Wednesday night. The Board of Commissioners, at the end of a meeting that exceeded four hours, voted 10-4 in favor of the $58 million ledger. The vote broke down along party lines, with majority Democrats in support and minority Republicans against. The budget includes a deficit of $2.8 million that is offset with onetime revenue from commercial property tax settlements. Many commissioners said they needed to reduce the deficit to mitigate the next tax increase. Commissioner Jenny Brown, a Republican, proposed eliminating longevity pay and deferred compensation plans for township employees, beginning in 2013. But …
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Should senior management be rewarded for performance or for years of service?
As the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners discussed the township's 2013 budget at Wednesday night's Finance Committee meeting, one major point of contention was merit pay for management staff: Should staff receive additional pay based on years of service, commissioners asked, or should staff be rewarded based on outstanding performance? Currently, longevity payments are allotted, on top of salary, to some township management staff based on years of service. The township pays out approximately $250,000 each year in longevity payments for management staff (excluding police staff), Township Manager Doug Cleland said. Longevity payments have been eliminated for all township staff (aside from police staff) hired after September 2011, …
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
The topic again was management compensation.
Lower Merion’s Board of Commissioners held its first public hearing on the proposed 2013 budget Monday night, eliciting comment from no township residents except the commissioners themselves. Once it became clear no residents would address the proposed budget—which offsets a $2.8 million deficit with an equivalent portion of a $6.9 million commercial tax-payment settlement—Commissioner Jenny Brown sought to discuss the township’s practice of deferred-compensation plans for certain employees. The topic has been a frequent point of contention among board members, who include 10 Democrats and four Republicans. Several Democrats, chief among them Board President Liz Rogan, have voiced support of the township's compensation policies as helping …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Lower Merion officials will consider whether to streamline the process of adapting former religious centers for new uses.
After a month's hiatus, the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners returns to business Wednesday night, leading its agenda with a public hearing on building conversions. Township officials are considering whether to clarify and streamline the process by which the owner of former religious buildings and certain other historic structures might adapt them for residential use. The conversion ordinance under consideration would help adapt properties for multi-family uses, such as apartments or condominium units. Those uses are not permitted under the current zoning. Several property owners have approached the township this year for this purpose, including at First Baptist Church of Ardmore and Odd Fellows Hall and Gladwyne Methodist Church. The …
Friday, August 3, 2012
Residents can weigh in Sept. 12.
A proposal to make it easier for people in Lower Merion to renovate former houses of worship and other historical buildings into homes will go to a public hearing a week earlier than anticipated. The township's Board of Commissioners decided Wednesday night to set a public hearing for Sept. 12, rather than the Sept. 19 that had been planned the previous week. The board has a summer recess so will not meet again until Sept. 6. Several property owners have approached the township in recent months to seek help retrofitting churches and other old community buildings, which prompted the proposed new policy. Some commissioners still have objections to parts of the policy, such as the inclusion of buildings with cemeteries, which require costly …
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Thomas J. Walsh, a former Ardmore Patch editor, will start work on July 25.
The Lower Merion Board of Commissioners on Wednesday night approved the appointment of career journalist Thomas J. Walsh as the new township public information officer, after debating whether the position was a necessary expense in tough economic times. The vote was 9-3, with Commissioners Philip Rosenzweig, Jenny Brown and Lewis Gould voting against. Scott Zelov and Jane Delheim were absent. The township public information officer serves as the liason to the media, and will also "be responsible for developing, organizing and coordinating a comprehensive public information program, along with maximizing the production potential of the Township's Government Access Television Channel," a township press release states. Walsh has been a …
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Jim Saunders
6:39 am on Monday, May 20, 2013
It's a great spot for iron hill. There is a ton of parking across the street. I would venture to say it has more parking than anywhere else in the area!!! more ›