Kids & Family

Township Votes to Keep Pioneer Road Property Zoned Residential

A large community showing at last night's public hearing showed little support for bringing in a business into a Huntingdon Valley neighborhood.

[updated 6:58 p.m.]

A public hearing was held, last night, March 5, to discuss the fate of an allegedly derelict property, located at 2005 Pioneer Road in Huntingdon Valley.

The public hearing, prior to a full board vote that evening, was held to help determine whether or not the Pioneer Road property should be converted from its R-3 Residential zoning to an S-Small Limited Industrial District.

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After hearing extensive testimony from the potential property buyer and several residents from the property’s neighborhood, the board unanimously voted against changing Ordinance 1610 and 1611, which would have amended the current zoning for the property.

 

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The Manncorp Request

The request for the conversion came from Henry Mann, who is the owner and CEO of the Upper Moreland-based business Manncorp.

According to the Manncorp website, the business specializes in products in the electronics industry, as well as provides technical consulting.

During the public hearing, Mann testified that his Upper Moreland business, located at 2845 Terwood Road, is mostly used for administrative purposes, while his San Diego location holds his business’ main warehouses and manufacturing.

Mann has operated his business in Upper Moreland since 1990.

“It would be very suitable for my business,” Mann told the full board of the Pioneer Road site.

Of the 1.25-acres property, Mann said that he intended to construct a 5,000-square foot, one-story office building; 5,000-square foot warehouse; and a 10,000-12,000-square-foot structure to house his collection of cars.

“It would be a good place for group presentations,” Mann said, noting that current Manncorp presentations are held in another location by the Philadelphia International Airport. During the public hearing, Mann’s legal representation, Marc Jonas of the Doylestown-based law offices of Eastburn and Gray, described the Pioneer Road property as an opportunity to, “clean up a piece of ground that is in trouble.”

“If you walk the site, you see what it has become,” Jonas said. “No one would live there.”

 

A Troubled Property

Jonas submitted photographs and other articles, describing a property filled with debris, that adjoins the Turnpike with ineffectual sound barriers; and may have negative environmental issues, including the presence of oil and petroleum from the adjoining Turnpike property – although the township does not officially declare the property as “contaminated,” pending further investigation.   

Furthermore, Jones revealed that the property has continuously been on the market since May 2009, when the asking price was $341,900. The property’s most recent listing was set in September 2011 for $250,000.

Later in the public hearing proceedings, Ward 7 commissioner James McKenna pointed out that the property may not have been advertised correctly, as listings portrayed the property to allow three subdivisions, as opposed to one house.

It was also reported that the house on the property burnt down approximately four years ago, with an unusable garage as the lone standing structure.

Among the debris, submitted in photos to the township by Jonas, may be evidence of the current property owner using the property as part of an illicit home-business operation. The photos included heavy construction equipment, such as steamrollers and dump trucks.

According to township solicitor, Kate Harper, the township is currently undergoing legal actions against the property owner for various township code violations.

According to Jonas, Mann would have purchased and restored the property, but only under the condition that the zoning ordinance be changed to small industrial.

“What is the point of keeping the zoning residential?” Jonas asked, adding that Mann’s use of the Pioneer Road property would be a, “realistic use of the property.”

 

Residential Opposition

Answering Jonas was a standing room only audience of concerned residents, most of who signed a 32-person petition against the zoning changes.

“Re-zoning is not the road to environmental clean-up,” Hank Sokolowski said to the board.

Sokolowski lives along Butternut Drive Road, which contains several other homes that lines the Pioneer Road property’s backyard. Currently, a long, approximately 16-foot tall wooden fence and some landscaping separates the row of single homes along Butternut Drive with the Pioneer Road property.

Sokolowski, who has lived in his residence since 1987, said that he and most of his neighbors were opposed to the re-zoning upon learning about Mann’s intentions last year.

Sokolowski was the first among a parade of residents, to speak of the potential grievances concerning the then potential re-zoning. He said that the property value in the neighborhood would further decrease due to the presence of a business such as Mann’s, however, he and the township did recognize Mann and his business as “honorable.”

Sokolowski reasoned that traffic would increase, as well as noise. Most of all, however, Sokolowski and his neighbors feared setting a precedent for other businesses to “encroach” on residentially zoned areas.

Currently, the Turnpike makes a clear barrier between small industrial businesses and the Butternut neighborhood.

“It’s a very slippery slope,” Sokolowski said. “If it’s going to be granted, it will never be residential again.”

Most of the residents took the opportunity to ask the board for more attention to the property.

An 11-year resident of 2100 Pioneer Road stated to the board that the 2005 Pioneer Road property owner held livestock on the premises. Another resident said that construction vehicles and power-tools can be heard throughout the day. Other residents said they reported to the township cases of juvenile vandals sneaking onto the property, and expressed concern over unlawful occupation.

“The township should go after the owner of the property and clean it up,” The resident of 2100 Pioneer Road, said during the hearing. “And, then market it afterward.”


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