Swarthmore Borough
Planning and Zoning Committee
Minutes for July 10, 2003

1. The meeting was called to order at 7:55 pm. Present were: Joanna
Jacobs, Paul Bech, Lisa Aaron, Jane Billings and Josh Twersky. The minutes from May 8, 2003 were approved unanimously.

2. The Committee reviewed a letter received from a large number of residents around the 111 Dartmouth block concerning the possible purchase of the now vacant property on the market there. We reviewed the pros and cons of a possible park on that site, and discussed the other options currently under review for the plot, i.e.., senior housing, senior medical facilities, etc. It was reported that the lot and office were on the market for around $350,000. There was some discussion about the possibility of purchasing an option to buy it later, when the Comprehensive Plan was completed and considered. There simply wasn’t enough information available to make an educated guess as to price for such an option. It was agreed that Joanna would get in touch with John McKinstry, as a spokesperson for that group, and relay to thi8m our discussion about the land.

3. It was agreed to recommend that Eric Kraeutler be appointed to fill the current vacancy on the Zoning Hearing Board.

4. The committee reviewed the pending application from Janice Hampton to open a B&B. The L&I would not be completed by Monday’s Council meeting, however, so it will have to wait until August to vote on the approval of the conditional use permit.

5. We reviewed the final Land Development Plan for the Coop, particularly the request for a waiver from the storm water management requirement to return the land to “meadow conditions” after construction. The Council had granted a similar waiver for the college dormitory within the past several months. The waiver the Coop has requested is to return the land to 50% of meadow conditions. The Committee agreed to recommend to Council that such a waiver be granted.

6. New business: Josh Twersky complained that he thought that 1,000 square feet disruption is too low a point to trigger the storm water management ordinance. The Committee’s position was that there were waivers available if appropriate, but that the set point would also be available where possible.

7. We briefly discussed the FAZIP plan. Jay Woolford will come to the Council meeting to present the recommendations from the Planning Commission

8. We discussed street “vacation” where the Borough had not exercised, nor was interested in exercising, property rights for some of the “paper” streets within the Borough. The Committee needed to wait for additional input from the Borough Solicitor before deciding the most expeditious way to transfer the property interest back to the adjoining landowners.

The Committee went into an Executive Session at around 9:40 to discuss potential litigation matters.

Minutes submitted by Joanna Jacobs.