Packed Zoning Hearing Continued Until April 27

Hearing attendees spilled out into the hallway and parked across the street at the former armory building after the township lot filled.

At one point, zoning hearing board member Jon Lilienfeld banged the gavel and declared, “Stop. Everyone stand up and stretch.” Audience members obeyed, and someone ran to the door to let air into the cramped, warm meeting room.

The crowd came out to witness a zoning hearing on a potential expansion of East Pikeland Elementary School, located at 1191 Hares Hill Road. Plans are to keep an existing structure from the 1930s, demolish an addition from the 1960s and expand the school, which sits on an 11.3-acre site.

The plans have been before the planning commission in East Pikeland, which recommended, , that zoning relief be granted. Phoenixville Area School District is seeking two special exceptions and five variances, outlined at the end of this article.

At Wednesday’s hearing, the lawyer to resident ratio was low, even with the crowd. The first fifteen minutes were spent figuring out who would get party status for the hearing. Those parties will be notified of future proceedings and will be able to participate in any potential appeals.

A group of 17 households near the school joined together as the East Pikeland Neighborhood Coalition, represented by an attorney. Additionally, the Kimberton Village Business Association asked to be party to the hearing, and that request will be submitted in writing and considered for the next part of the hearing.

One adjacent resident sent attorney Michael Murray as a representative, and Andrew Bellwoar served as special counsel for the township. The Green Valleys Association asked to be a party to the hearing, but was denied after the school district’s counsel objected.

With the flurry of legal happenings and a bevy of lawyers on hand, the hearing didn’t move past the first witness, who was David Schraeder, the school district’s architect for the project.

No residents or other witnesses testified, and Schrader’s testimony was frequently interrupted by objections from the lawyers present. Schrader’s testimony dealt with existing conditions on the site, along with the capacity needs of the school and the request for a variance to allow for a higher building height.

At times the hearing turned slightly contentious, as Ronald Kalyan, representing the district, had to repeatedly defend the qualifications and scope of expertise of Schrader.

The zoning board adjourned the hearing after two hours, at 9 p.m. It will be continued April 27, and will likely be relocated to the Kimberton Fire Company, which has more space and parking than the township building.

During the course of the zoning hearing, the district will be charged with proving that it needs the zoning relief and that the expansion won’t be a detriment to the surrounding community. Following the close of the hearing, the zoning hearing board will render a decision.

If the district is granted zoning relief, its representatives will head back to the planning commission to tackle any remaining land development issues. The commission, as an advisory body, would be charged with making a recommendation to the board of supervisors.

Check out the related articles on the right hand side of this page to learn more about nearby residents' complaints and supporters' arguments for the expansion.

Requested Zoning Relief:

• Special exception: construction of structures in precautionary steep slope area
• Special exception: expansion of an existing educational use in the R2 zoning district
• Variance: exceed the 30 percent disturbance in existing steep slopes; disturbance will be 80 percent
• Variance: exceed the maximum impervious coverage of 20 percent; proposal is for 40 percent, conditioned upon applicant providing 2.5-acre conservation easement along Kimberton Road
• Variance: exceed the maximum building height of 35 feet; proposal is for 48.5 feet
• Variance: reduce the 25-foot setback requirement for overflow parking spaces; proposal is 10.4 feet from the right of way
• Variance: provide less than the required 25 percent open space for passive recreation