Swarthmore Borough Planning Commission
November 19, 2003
Swarthmore Borough Hall Council Room
Meeting Minutes

Attendees: Jay Woolford (Chair), Susan Wright, Tom Shaffer, Leslie Price, Michael Peters, Tim Kearney, Joan Apt, Joe Foglio

The meeting began at 7:38 pm.

1. Special Session – The meeting began with a public presentation of the revised Town Center Streetscape Plan. Borough Manager Jane Billings made the presentation on behalf of the Borough Council and Swarthmore Town Center, Inc. The presentation was for informational purposes only. The Planning Commission was not asked to act on the proposed plan.
Briefly: This is a revised version of the streetscape plan that was begun in 1994, the PNC Bank was the only implementation of the plan and it has been revised for cost reasons. The new plan:
a. Utilizes concrete sidewalk (3’x3’ grid) with a 36" brick edge strip.
b. Adds additional street trees selected not to block windows.
c. Adds 31 pedestrian scaled light fixtures.
d. Adds new double head parking meters.
e. Adds a bike rack.
f. New benches and trashcans are not part of this scope of work. Town Center Inc will fundraise for them, including recycling containers.
g. New crosswalks will be stamped and painted asphalt in a brick pattern (Streetprint).
h. Current parking does not meet Penn DOT regulations. New plan will comply resulting in loss of some spaces. Additional spaces will be opened on Meyers Ave.
i. Sidewalk on Park between Michaels and DP Welsh will be widened by 2’. Angled parking across the street will be eliminated and replaced with parallel parking on both sides of Park.
j. Lafayette Court will be one way with a dedicated bike lane. Dartmouth will lose 6 spaces. New spaces will be opened on Meyers.
Public comment followed and centered on lighting levels on Park, Dartmouth, Meyers and the town parking lot, trees on Meyers, icicles and storm water on Park, and a possible 3 way stop at Park and Dartmouth.
Schedule: Drawings are in review by PennDOT and work should start in August 2004.

2. The October 15, 2003 meeting minutes were approved.

3. Update on Sign Ordinance – Discussion of the current sign ordinance was continued from the October meeting. There was general agreement that the current ordinance is too restrictive and should be modified. The majority of signs in the business district do not meet the requirement. Either they have been grandfathered in (and the business owner is reluctant to update signage) or the ordinance is ignored.

TK proposed that a 2-tier approach be implemented. The existing ordinance would be adjusted to create a base line of acceptable signage. In addition, a process would be put in place to allow business owners who want to exceed the baseline to present their proposed signage to a review board. There was spirited discussion about the make up of such a board.

It was decided that TK would put together talking points for distribution to the PC and to business Owners. The chair will make inquiries about the proper distribution list.

4. Update on Comprehensive Plan – Leslie Price reported that work has begun on the plan. Swarthmore, Nether Providence, Rutledge and Rose Valley are the municipalities represented and the Wallingford Swarthmore School District is included as well.
Gannet Fleming has been hired as a consultant to help create the plan.
The process is expected to take two years.
The plan is a vision across the multiple municipalities that will look at overall issues such as infrastructure, resources and parking. Particular attention is being paid to issues that occur in one municipality and affects the other municipalities. An example of the lack of sidewalks in Nether Providence requiring the school district to bus students one block was given.
Leslie reported that is has been a positive process thus far.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 pm. The next meeting will be December 17, 2003.

Respectfully submitted,
Tim Kearney