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Plans by two developers for parcels that lie within Upper Dublin Township’s Dresher triangle would likely be able to move forward, but with certain restrictions under proposed changes to the Dresher Overlay.
Revisions to the overlay, a zoning tool created in the 1990s for the area bounded by Limekiln Pike and Dreshertown and Susquehanna roads, were discussed at the Upper Dublin Planning Commission meeting Dec. 18. The developers — BET, which owns 9.54 acres between Susquehanna and Limekiln known as Dresher Commons, and Brandolini, owner of the 4-acre tract on Dreshertown Road adjacent to the shopping center — who attended, indicated some of the restrictions would be too prohibitive to make economic development feasible. Both parcels are zoned A-Residential, but lie within the overlay, which permits other uses with restrictions.
BET most recently proposed rezoning the tract to MD – multi-dwelling and CR-L – commercial-retail to build 24 townhouses, a 4,000-square-foot office addition to the existing Clime House, a 6,400-square-foot restaurant and a 13,000-square-foot pharmacy. Brandolini, which owns Dreshertown Plaza, has proposed rezoning the 4-acre adjacent parcel to SC – shopping center and constructing a free-standing pharmacy. Those plans were put on hold when the township commissioners decided to tweak the overlay in order to allow the development to go forward while maintaining control over design, traffic and landscaping.
Rick Collier, township landscape architecture consultant, who worked on the draft, said “the intent” was to further define a preferred village concept, stressing a mix of uses within or among the buildings was important, if possible. Mixed-use “is not a requirement, just an option,” he said. Development would not be permitted as a strip shopping center or “random small boxes.”
No drive-through restaurants or banks would be permitted and hours of operation limited. Some retail and commercial uses are permitted by conditional use with the addition of a restaurant/café/coffee shop. Buildings would be limited to 15,000 square feet, no flat roofs allowed unless there are architectural treatments to disguise them and trips per day per lot would be changed from 750 to 1,350, though the latter is still being discussed. To encourage mixed use and multi-story buildings, 4 percent more building coverage would be permitted.
“The bottom line is for a Dresher Overlay district that actually works and encourages development to take place,” Collier said.
The proposed changes “would not preclude either [Brandolini’s or BET’s] plan,” UDPC Chairman Wes Wolf said.
The overlay would be removed from the portion of BET’s property proposed for townhouses, as well as the adjacent 2.9-acre Tai tract BET might purchase, for which rezoning to MD would still be sought, according to township Code Enforcement Director Rick Barton.
Planner Jeff Albert questioned “how much of the overlay is practical to this [BET] site,” and whether the village concept was “economically developable.”
“If [the overlay changes] will preclude development, we should know it now,” Albert said. Changing the zoning for the two parcels “really makes sense for what we want to do.” Continued…
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