Planning Commission Meeting

DOYLESTOWN BOROUGH PLANNING COMMISSION NOVEMBER 28, 2023 MEETING MINUTES The meeting of the Doylestown Borough Planning Commission was held at Borough Hall at 7:30 pm on November 28, 2023. Members present were as follows: James Lannon, Chairman W. Andrew Happ Heather Mahaley MaryAnn Baenninger P.R. West Nicholas Caramenico The meeting was also attended by Doylestown Borough Director of Building and Zoning Karyn Hyland and Geoff Attanasio from Gilmore & Associates. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by Mr. Lannon, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance in honor of Martin Corr. MEETING MINUTES The meeting minutes from the October 24, 2023, and November 14, 2023, meetings were approved as amended. SUBDIVISION AND LAND DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS #2023-01: 353 E. State Street (aka Roscommon Tract LLC) Kellie McGowan presented the second submission of this application. This application was originally presented at the July 25, 2023 Planning Commission meeting. Since then, several updates and changes have been made to the application, which Ms. McGowan reviewed with the Commission. The biggest update has been concerning the trees on the property. Herb Hickmont of Keystone Tree Experts performed a survey. Mr. Hickmont notes there are currently 40 trees on the property, with Norway Maples making up the majority of those trees. He gave a detailed inventory and a list of suggested replacement trees. The applicant has agreed to contribute $10,000 to the Shade Tree fund in lieu of replacing 31 of the 40 trees. All comments in the Gilmore review letter are Will Comply. An additional waiver request with respect to the stormwater management comment is that the applicant be allowed to defer submitting infiltration results to the time of building permit application submission, as this will give a more accurate picture of the stormwater management. On a motion from Ms. Mahaley, seconded by Ms. Baenninger, the Commission voted to recommend to Borough Council the Preliminary and Final Subdivision approval with the following conditions: All comments listed in the engineer’s letter are “Will Comply,” the waiver request for street tree quantity be denied, street trees may be located to accommodate driveways, utilities, and other obstructions, a contribution of $10,000 will be made to the shade tree fund, infiltration test results will be submitted at the time of building permit application submission, and before construction, the application will enter into applicable agreements in a form satisfactory to the Borough solicitor as would be the case if construction were to happen immediately. Mr. Happ abstained from voting. #2023-02: 185 E. Ashland Street Sean McGranahan of Van Cleef Engineering Associates presented the submission of this application. The applicant is proposing a lot line adjustment to reduce the area of a lot on Church Street and enlarge a lot on E. Ashland. The applicant also proposes adding a garage, relocating a driveway, and making stormwater management improvements, which will alleviate existing drainage problems and account for the proposed additional impervious surface. All comments in the Gilmore review letter are Will Comply, with a deferral to the street trees comment. Ms. Hyland confirmed that the applicants would be willing to enter into developers and other applicable agreements. On a motion from Ms. Mahaley, seconded by Mr. Happ, the Commission unanimously recommended the Minor Subdevelopment application of 185 E. Ashland St. to the Borough Council for approval. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business, the Commission adjourned at 7:59 pm in honor of Libby White. Respectfully submitted, Erika Fellman