1209 Rydal Rd
THE NUTSHELL :
This is about a
proposal to take a 7.79 + acre lot - at least partially on a
slope, that could at most support 7 single family homes under
the current R 1 zoning, and to ask the Commissioners to
violate the rights and wishes of the residents and allow this
developer to change the zoning in order to build
either 18 Townhouse units and 16 Duplex units (34 units total)
where only 7 should currently be .... or maybe a mix of
Townhouse condo's, Duplex condos and single family homes
for even more than 34 units ( again, where only 6 more
single family homes should be, if current laws
codes were upheld. )
This will
increase the bottom line of the
developer and undoubtedly detract from the value of the
beautiful homes that are currently there.
The developer's
wealth would come at the expense of the citizens' rights to have
their zoning protected.
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ERRORS? Please check all details for accuracy . If there
are discrepancies
please let us know
so we can correct anything that needs correcting.
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ACTION NEEDED: After reading this - please connect in with
the neighbors who are
keeping all informed of meetings,
holding discussions, lending their voices to the
legislators and taking action.
Sign the petition
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlcOkgpYWQ6epoQB-ChQcXnzDyVWmf5vzCL76H65BG60lZxw/viewform
or Email
lel@abingtoncitizens.com to be connected in
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1209
RYDAL ROAD View the Property here
https://www.redfin.com/PA/Rydal/1209-Rydal-Rd-19046/home/38247017
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VALUE: It is off the market now, but before Chaverim bought it, it was
listed at well over $1M at one point
From Zillow 10-21: Zillow estimates this
5 bd 6.5 bth
4947 sf home at
$1,403,600
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1209-Rydal-Rd-Rydal-PA-19046/9905064_zpid/
So why did it sell at $600K? Yes, it needs work - but THAT much?
Almost a million?
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VALUE: The assesssed
value is $680,050 and the Common Level Multiplier is 2.24
indicating a potential calculation of market value
as $1.52 M So why did it sell at $600K?
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6-5-21 OWNER CHAVERIM CORPORATE PRESENCE IS BORN June 5 ,
2019
Chaverim Realty
Partners LLC
4122 Haverford Ave
Suite 11 Phila Pa
19104
The Registered Agent was Active Realty
1751 Easton Road Willow Grove PA 19090 Montgomery
David Mermelstein Pres,
Solomon Mermelstein
Sec & Treas
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6-27-19
CHAVERIM PURCHASES THE PLOT June
27, 2019 for $600,000 per Montco
Property Records
Sale Date 27-JUN-19
Sale Price
$600,000 Tax Stamps
6000 Deed Book
and Page 6143-02991
Grantor
STEINBERG MARY ELLEN
Grantee
CHAVERIM REALTY PARTNERS LLC
Date Recorded 10-JUL-19
Sale Date
27-JUN-19
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the
buidling contractor MB Crafters Moshe Barazani
The business is registered on Ambler Rd in Abington on at
least one report - but the principal Moshe Barazani,
coincidentally ives just a few blocks away from Commissioner
Hecker. They are listed with 2 employees and annual revenue just
over $300K . There is not date on that report - but it came up
on D&B in mid October 2021
https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.m_b_crafters_of_pa_inc.fce627345a13b542bfa2724667ce85ff.html
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8-9-21 CHAVERIM'S
BUILDING CONTRACTOR MB CONTRACTORS MEETS WITH RESIDENTS Aug 9, 2021
Craig Lerch ( realtor involved in the sale) introduces MB
Crafters , the building contractor .
They offer their proposal for feedback. There is some
confusion over the exact realtionships - for instance , whether
MB Crafters is just the Builder/Contractor -or partner . but we
are trying to clear that up. Chaverim Partners is the only
entity listed in the Montgomery County property records as
the owner.
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TOWNSHIP ENCOURAGEMENT TO VIOLATE ZONING ? We are also
seeking to clear up who it was in the Township that encouraged
denser development be offered . Some stories have
the Commissioner saying that is not true - others have him
syaing that he will find out who it was . SThere may have
been a zoom call with the Township where the deeper
density was encouraged. All that is yet to be sorted out. Please let
me know if you have learned more about this, so we can keep
this page as accurate as possible.
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A SECTION FROM THE PLANS as presented 8-9-21
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PART OF THE
"TOD CHART" AS PRESENTED 8-9-21
TOD stands for Transit Oriented Development - and generally there
are monies available to builders to build densely around Transit hubs
- like the Rydal Train station. From our pockets to theirs - to
do things we don't want done.
Yes - the TOD funds come from
taxes you pay. Or, as they would have you believe, from
the tooth fairy.
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THE
PROPOSED HOUSING INFO below is from the bottom of the
chart shown above - It shows 4 single family homes, 9 townhouses and
16 stacked townhouse duplexes... but SOME residents came away with
the sense that 18 Townhouses and 16 Duplexes were what was in
the plan. Others thought thtere was a mix like this. Some
understood all to be condos. So as of this 10-21 writing,
confusion reigns.
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The Plot in relation to its neighbors
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The plot in relation to the train station - Where is the
walkable area? Who will pay for the sidewalks ? Who will
maintain them ? The intersection at Valley and Susquehann is
crazy busy at rush hour . Is it smart to drive pedestrian
traffic there . It is NOT for the benefit of the current
residents who voted these legislators in to oversee their
interests. Any benefit will go to the developer and to new
tenants or owners of these residences .... at the expense of the
others already there.
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UNDERSTANDING SPOT
ZONING
and
your disappearing zoning rights. You cannot simply request to
have your own property improved for your benefit alone by
changing the zoning for yourself, and not for others that have
the same kind of properties. So when developers add things into
our Zoning Code to benefit themselves, often other properties
get rights that the residents near the other properties never
even learn about and never have a say in - even though the law
intends that they should. Our Township famously does not reveal
these things or explain them to the residents impacted.
### When the York Rd Wawa at the top of the Fairway got their
massive benefits ( the equivalent of 23 variances or waivers), other
properties were affected and would now ALSO be allowed to have a
gas station and 24 hour operation. Contiguous neighbors
to these other properties, however,
were not alerted.
### When the former YMCA property got their
new rights as a gigantic gift from the Commissioners, significant changes to other properties
occurred. The impact of that was never explored.
### Penn State just held many meetings about changes they
soon hope to have, without notifying the neighbors near other
properties that may get the same uses by right. Manor
College will also change and those neighbors were never given
any proper explanation.
The same is likely to happen here. Spot
Zoning, on it's face, is improper and illegal - but the
laws and codes are being twisted or ignored in unethical ways
that leave residents helpless unless they want to dip into their
own pockets and try to sue either a wealthy developer or a
Township that has immunity. Recent case law twisted the intents
even further by suggesting if the Commissioners WANT that kind
of zoning - if it is in theri "vision" then it is not spot
zoning.
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Now - as of 10-14-21 we have another
threat to our zoning . The Township revealed at the
Committee of the Whole on 10-14-21 that they are planning to
unveil an even further erosion of your zoning rights. They want
to give themselves the right to "amend " the zoning ordinance
virtually at
will. That means you would no longer have any strong
zoning protections for your property at all. They tried to sneak this into a paragraph some years
ago that would have affected most of the York Rd corridor
. The simple phrase was discovered and there was an outcry
to remove it . Now they put the assault on your zoning
rights into an agenda item that was billed as Public Comment
changes --- and it would affect the entire Township.
More to come on this matter.
Whether our laws and codes work
properly or don't is in the hands of your legislators (even
though they falsely may tell you it is not ) . Do
not allow them to continue passing legislation that removes your
rights and puts everything in their hands.
Hold them accountable by
learning what they are doing - but protecting your public
comment rights so you can inform others - and by learning how
your system of elections works, so you can find new candidates
to replace those that are "hard of hearing".
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UNDERSTANDING
MAP AND TEXT AMENDMENTS Zoning Hearing Boards
hearings are quasi-judicial & have very specific processes and
laws that must be followed. They have very specific
notification rules. Text and map amendments, by
contrast, are the Wild West of zoning changes and
have almost zero rules ... no notifications required until the
hearing - (you may have missed the earlier 11 meetings...
they don't care ) , no required process
of review and nothing to inhibit 8 of our 15 Commissioners from
saying AYE even when the entire matter isn't even remotely in
your interest. This should be a concern to all..... 8
individuals are not had to "entice" into an action
that benefits a developer. This project, itself, has even started out with Township
actions favoring the developer rather than the residents served.
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This will
likely be a text and map amendment proposal
---- not a Zoning Hearing
Board matter - which hears far less dramatic changes to
zoning than this. The Zoning Hearing Board handles
variances and waivers, etc. perhaps to extend further out the
side..... or build a deck - or increase the property
footprint. And variances need a hardship. There would be no
reasonable hardship here for this kind of monumental change.
Unless greed is now a hardship. I remain willing
to admit if I've made a bad call here, but I am pretty darn sure
the only way to accomplish this is with a map amendment, or a
text and map amendment.....meaning that they intend to change
the zoning map ( see the paragraph below this ) to a
new zoning designation that allows all that they want --- or if
not just a map amendment , they
will add new text into the current or new zoning designation to
allow what they want . Such a change would impact all
other R1 properties with similar conditions and could be a
disaster . The extent of the changes is never explained. The
Commissioners don't require it , however unethical that may be. They just tried to pull a "fast one" like this over
at Penn State which would have changed the R1 zoning in
multiple places, if not Township-wide.
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HERE IS YOUR ZONING CODE - near
the very end are the
uses that are already allowed in the R1 districtand the zoning
maps
http://www.abington.org/home/showdocument?id=6053
Remember : whatever they put in it will apply to all other
properties that meet the same specs Township-wide.
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On 10-19-21
there was a Comprehensive Plan meeting with a focus this
session on Future Land Use .
The Land use map tell the whole
story. The blue dotted lines show the 1/2 mi TOD's (
Transit Oriented Districts) - ( see the 1/2 mile around the Rydal Station)
where dense development generally is encouraged . The TOD
around Rydal Station includes 1209 Rydal Rd --- apparently
they didn't want to wait for public input and the hearing and
the plan to be officially passed. The dense development
already IS "encouraged" without the input of the
public. But the gray circles are 1/2 mi "Mixed Residential
Overlay" areas. I would interpret Mixed Use residential to
be exactly what was proposed here --- but I am unsure how they
are differentiaing their TOD overlay from the "Mixed Use
Residential Overlay". Does the TOD allow mixed use including
commercial as TODs often do ?
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IS THIS IN THE INTEREST OF THE
HEALTH, SAFETY OR WELFARE OF THE RESIDENTS THESE COMMISSIONERS
ARE SERVING ? No. Really, it is not. Despite that it is the
Commissioners' duty
to protect our welfare, this is contrary to that. Multiple projects are,
at this very moment,
being pushed through with no proper financial analysis
nor
any analysis whatsoever of any kind that
shows a benefit to the
current residents
of the Township or shows
the full extent of the negative impacts. Some of these impacts may even be very costly,
may devalue our homes, crowd our schools, raise our taxes, keep us sitting
in time-wasting, pollution-creating traffic and
may require expansion of major facilities. Not to mention
changing the very character of our beautiful residential
neighborhoods, or showing any recognition that a
great majority of residents again and again have vocalized that
they do not want to be "urbanized".
And you should
be sure to factor in that your Commissioner is
not the only one who votes on this issue . You can find
all the Commissioners
here . Please
let them hear from you. And please send their responses here so
that others
can know what they are
saying about all of this.
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Please join those holding discussions, lending their voices and
taking action. Email
lel@abingtoncitizens.com to be connected in .
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__________
We
welcome your comments
to share either anonymously or with your name attached with
your fellow Abington residents. Send any
updated
information, comments or questions to:
lel@abingtoncitizens.com
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