Center Ice Expansion on the Upper Prov Planning Commission Agenda

Center Ice wants to expand their business 30 percent by adding another rink. I'm all for it if it's done right. There's a meeting this week. If you care about what's happening in your neighborhood, take an hour on Wednesday, Nov. 9, and sit in on the Upper Providence Planning Commission meeting. Bring your ideas and opinions. Get up and speak your mind. 

I don't know anyone who doesn't want Center Ice to be a profitable neighborhood business. I haven't met the owner but some of the neighbors have. They say he's a stand-up guy. A lot of folks take their kids to Center Ice for open skate or competitions. So I'm good with wanting them there.  

What I don't want is more traffic on the small, narrow residential streets. Brower Avenue is already way over capacity for a residential road. There are no sidewalks, no safety zones for pedestrians or bike riders, and despite the speed limit and increased enforcement, a steady stream of cars and heavy trucks rumble through the neighborhood at all hours.  

Traffic spills over onto Montgomery, then Highland, as customer try to zig-zag around the poorly designed intersection at Station and Egypt. Higher volumes also affect the Gumbes Road neighborhood where vehicle counts and speed are both higher now then ever before. 

Center Ice already demonstrated their willingness to be a good neighbor. They were front and center getting behind the "Drive 25" campaign started by Oaks neighbor, Adam Williams. Adam also organized a sit-down with Oaks neighbors, Center Ice's owner, and the very large predominant landowner in the area, Audubon Land Development (ALD), to deal with traffic issues. They discussed a plan to move all their customer traffic onto Pennco Road to Station Avenue rather than funnel it into the neighborhood. But since Pennco is a private road owned by ALD, not much is happening. The Township is like the three monkeys with hands firmly clamped over their eyes, ears and mouth, almost relieved that it's a 'private affair' between Center Ice and ALD.

But that doesn't get anyone closer to a decent long-term solution. The Township needs to step-in, step-up and show some leadership. The only way they will is if there is pressure from all sides. If ALD is stalling, the Township needs to get them to the table. If ALD can't or won't do the right thing, the Supervisors need to get some backbone. 

Now is the time to push the Township for a total solution for traffic associate with commercial development from the businesses surrounding the Oaks residential neighborhood. The fight starts with the Planning Commission and their process. This is a very important meeting to attend for the citizens of Oaks village.