Diner Property Developer Returning With Hatboro Apartments Plan

HATBORO, PA —With the CVS property going before the Borough Council in less than three weeks, the second developer to file plans under the Town Center Ordinance will return for a second round next week.

JERC Partners LXIX, LLC, developers of the old diner property and others located at 21-23 and 37 N. York Rd. will appear before the Hatboro Planning Commission at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Loller Academy Building to continue a review of their land development and conditional use applications.

It's the second developer to submit plans under the borough's new Town Center Ordinance, which allows for mixed-use residential and retail development.

The first meeting in mid-September, lasted three hours and left the developer and residents frustrated as tensions rose during the presentation for 102 apartments and retail space to fill the vacant space.

Under the submitted plans for the N. York Road property where the old diner used to be, the project would include a three-story building featuring 102 residential units, 4,732 square feet of first-floor retail space, and 3,142 square feet of a first-floor amenity area that would only be for those living in the apartments.

The apartments will include 20 two-bedroom units with the rest being either one-bedroom or studio apartments. Representatives for the developer did not have the cost of the apartments available at the first meeting.

During the meeting, representatives unveiled the plans, unveiled renderings of the building, and discussed parking and traffic impact studies.

Many residents, though, groaned at the first look at artist renderings of the building, stating that like the CVS property's initial plans, the building's façade does not match Hatboro's Heritage.

"This building doesn't represent Hatboro," resident Kelly A'Harrah said. "It doesn't look like something that belongs in our history. We want something that's not a bunch of rectangles and different colors."

Ed Murphy, the attorney representing the developer, said that the architect would work with the borough to try and find a façade that might capture the colonial and traditional look of some of the borough's buildings.

Click here for a copy of the plans and renderings presented to the Planning Commission on the borough's website.

In late January, the Hatboro Borough Council approved a mixed-use ordinance for a section of York Road after a public hearing of 50 people.

The ordinance allows developers to make proposals that could see building heights go to 60 feet provided they meet certain guidelines, meaning that the downtown district could have taller buildings and apartments.

The option allows for buildings along York Road —from Byberry Road to Montgomery Avenue —to be taller than the current 35 feet allowed.

All plans need final approval by the Hatboro Borough Council.