Hatboro Hires Municipal Planner

Residences in a heavy industrial area?

It could happen in Hatboro as borough officials consider rezoning the area, or creating an overlay district to allow for additional uses.

The Hatboro Borough Council this week unanimously authorized hiring municipal planner E. Van Rieker at a salary not to exceed $2,000 plus expenses and $95 per hour for attendance at meetings.

Council President John Zygmont said the evolution of the former Stove Works manufacturing facility to Hatboro Lofts on Jacksonville Road prompted the notion that zoning changes might be beneficial on sections of Jacksonville Road and Bonair, Lincoln, Springdale, Summit and Tanner avenues.

“Right now you could not build residential because zoning precludes it,” Zygmont said, adding, “It’s worked at Stove Works.”

Hatboro Lofts, which is adjacent to the heavy industrial area, is situated within the heavy industrial mixed-used district. Residential developments are permitted in that zone under conditional use. The Hatboro Borough Council will hold a conditional use hearing for a similar development, proposed for the former Cosmopolitan Motors, 301 Jacksonville Road, on July 22 at 6:30 p.m.

Van Rieker, who has several decades of land planning expertise and also offers consulting services for Horsham and Whitpain, will advise the borough on incorporating residential and mixed-use developments in the heavy industrial district, according to Zygmont.

“I think it’s good for us to be ahead of the curve,” Zygmont said, adding that it’s important to set parameters so “we don’t end up with super-residential.”