Quarry Development
Update
In 2008, the Montgomery County Court of Common Please ruled against Whitemarsh Township in Highway Materials, Inc.’s appeal of the Board of Supervisors’ 2002 decision denying Highway
Materials’ land development application and preliminary land development plans for the
proposed Creekside Commons project on Hole #1. The Township appealed this decision, and
on February 10, 2009, Judge Albright issued an amended opinion outlining the basis for the
Court’s decision. On May 21, 2009, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court affirmed Judge
Albright’s decision and sent the matter back to the Township for reconsideration and further
review of Highway Materials’ application.
The decision from the Court of Common Pleas essentially directs the Township to do the
following:
(1) “…in cooperation with the applicant and in compliance with The Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code and the Sunshine Law, …conduct and direct a complete, good faith review of the
aforementioned application and plans, providing Highway Materials, Inc. with all the necessary
information and reasonable opportunity required to revise its preliminary development plans
for the purpose of securing both preliminary and final land development approval of the …
project in accordance with the applicable requirements of the Whitemarsh Township Zoning
Ordinance, the Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance and those other
governing regulations in effect of the date of the filing of the application and plans ...”; and
(2) immediately resume its review of the application, “… taking every precaution to ensure that
the process of review and decision?]making is fairly conducted and compliant with the law,
providing Highway Materials, Inc. with such reasonable extensions of time which may be
needed to obtain the information and approvals required from the Township and outside
reviewing agencies.”
The Court also stated that the Township acted in bad faith when it denied Highway Materials’
development application in 2002.
Quarry Background
The original proposed project (as filed on 8/22/01): A 500,000 square-foot office complex on 54 acres of a now filled-in quarry, known as Hole #1, which is located on the northeast side of Stenton Avenue between Flourtown and Joshua Roads. This property is currently zoned "HVY-X - Heavy Industrial" which allows office use. The development would include:
As a comparison, the gross leasable space at Plymouth Meeting Mall is 413,000 sq. ft. The total parking area for the Quarry complex (approx. 30 acres) would be larger than Miles Park at Joshua Rd. and Germantown Pike (25 acres).
The Township's traffic impact study estimates that this development would generate an additional 5,600 car trips per day on the area's narrow, two-lane roads, requiring the installation of traffic lights at several intersections as well as road widenings.
Developer: The DePaul Group, owner of the Highway Materials Quarry (formerly known as Corson's Quarry). The site of DePaul's first proposed project is Hole #1, the smallest of three quarries totaling 313 acres owned by DePaul, all of which sit next to each other in this part of the township.
History: In the spring of 2000, the developer approached Township officials to informally discuss building a 500,000 square foot office complex on Hole #1. In response, the Township commissioned a traffic impact study, which was conducted in July 2000. In late November 2000, the developer filed a sketch plan (an informal submission of development plans) which proposed the development of three 7-story apartment buildings with 600 total units and four 4-story office buildings with 450,000 total square feet. In February 2001, the developer presented this plan to the Township Planning Commission for their initial response to the mixed-use concept of apartments and office space. (Residential use is not permitted in a HVY-X district.)
That meeting drew several hundred residents who expressed concerns about traffic congestion, additional burdens on infrastructure, impact on the environment and public safety, and the inappropriate scale and complexity of the project for its rural/residential surroundings. The Planning Commissioners also expressed concerns about the size of the project and questioned the developer about his plans for the other two quarries in the vicinity.
Subsequent to the Planning Commission meeting, the developer requested a hearing before the Board of Supervisors to present the sketch plan to them, saying that the Planning Commission had not provided adequate feedback on the mixed-use concept.
On May 24, 2001 the developer presented the sketch plan to the Supervisors, at which time they unanimously voted against it, citing its density and potential impact, particularly on traffic congestion. Although some of the Supervisors indicated they were not adverse to a mixed-use plan per se, they indicated it had to be on a scale more appropriate to the surroundings. They also said that review of any revised plan should be conducted by the Planning Commission. Recap of May 24th meeting.
In July 2001, a petition to rezone the Quarry property was circulated among residents of Whitemarsh. Signed by nearly 700 people, the petition requested the Township create a new "EX-Extraction" zoning district for the Quarry, which would limit future development on the property to residential uses only.
In response to this public petition, and to concerns about the petition expressed by the developer, the Township has commissioned a study to examine various zoning options for the entire 300+ acre Quarry property and to evaluate their respective impacts on the surrounding community.
Current Status: In late August, the developer revised and formally submitted land development plans for Quarry Hole #1 (see description above), whose proposed use and density reflects a clear disregard for the concerns raised by the community. The tentative deadline for the Township to respond to these plans is December 9, 2001 (pending confirmation by Township Solicitor based on applicant's "waiver of review period" letter).
On October 18, 2001, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to rezone the 300+ acre Quarry property to "EX-Extraction." The EX district will permit the use of the property for extractive uses until rehabilitated, i.e. filled in. Following rehabilitation, use of the property would be limited to single family residential dwellings under the AAA-Residential Zoning regulations. Also at this meeting the Supervisors selected Simone Jaffe Collins, a Landscape Architecture firm, to conduct the Quarry development study. The study is anticipated to take approximately four to six months and will include several opportunities for community input.
On October 18, the day of the Board of Supervisors' meeting to vote on rezoning the 300-acre site, the developer submitted development plans for Holes #2 and #3. Over a million square feet of office/warehouse space, as well as four residential lots, are planned on these two holes. Hole #2 is currently being filled in and is years away from rehabilitation. Hole #3 is still being quarried.
Because the developer formally submitted these development plans prior to the rezoning, the Township must consider them. However, the Board of Supervisors is simultaneously pursuing the zoning options study in the hope of finding an alternative use that will respond to the concerns of the community while addressing the developer's interest in realizing the maximum return on his investment.
The first Simone Jaffe Collins workshop to gather community input for the Quarry study was held November 5, 2001. Read the WTRA's recap.