Gambone eyes site Route 724 and Bridge Street

More than 100 residents gathered April 4 at the township building for a public hearing on a proposed development that, some residents say, will change the character of East Vincent Township forever.

Consultants and counsel for Gambone Development Co. were before the township board of supervisors to seek a zoning overlay district that would allow them to build Vincent Village, a 200-acre development that reaches from the corner of Route 724 and West Bridge Street to Stoney Run Road. The proposed development encompasses seven tracts of land. Current zoning for the property is PO (professional office) and GI (General Industrial) and, as indicated by the titles, would allow, by-right, both office space and industrial.

At present, the portion of the property closest to the intersection of Route 724 and West Bridge Street houses PJAX, a trucking company, and buildings formerly occupied by Jones Motor Co. The remainder of the property is open space.

Gambone Development is requesting a unified-development zoning addition that would allow for the construction of a mixed-use development, which will include a home-improvement store, a grocery store, a village-style shopping center and mixed residential development. Also included in the plan is a 5-acre allotment to the township for the construction of a new municipal building, and 20 acres of land that could potentially go to the Owen J. Roberts School District for the construction of a new elementary school.

Those 20 acres were the subject of much public comment April 4. According to Gambone attorney Louis Colagreco, the developer offered the 20 acres to the school district as part of an ongoing battle to create a veterans' cemetery on the site of the former Pennhurst State Hospital. U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-6, sponsored legislation that mandated the creation of a veterans cemetery in Southeast Pennsylvania within the next four years. Gerlach has been pushing to have the cemetery developed on the Pennhurst site.

At the time Gambone approached the township with its initial proposal for development, the Pennhurst site was deemed too small for a cemetery. The school district, which owns 23 acres adjacent to the proposed burial site, offered its land for the cemetery as long as it would have land in another location to build a school. After being approached by the school district, Gambone offered the district 20 acres of land near Stoney Run Road, Colagreco said.

"All this was done so the taxpayers wouldn't have to pay for those 20 acres to create a cemetery," said Colagreco. "It's a tragedy they're still looking for a cemetery in Southeast Pennsylvania."

Some residents questioned Gambone's motives for offering the land at no charge; one resident said the taxpayers already owned the 23 acres near Pennhurst and asked what the township would get out of Gambone's offer of an additional 20 acres.

"You're still getting the possibility of a veterans cemetery coming to East Vincent," said Colagreco. "Even if that never happens, East Vincent still gets 20 acres of open space, so don't ask, 'What are we getting out of this?'"

Many residents opposed the construction of a new elementary school, citing concerns that the district is already $20 million over budget on two schools currently being built.

In addition, the cemetery may never come to fruition. Toll Brothers, which is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Upper Makefield Township, has offered to sell land for the cemetery for $7 million, contingent on the approval of a proposed development, as opposed to Gambone, which offered its land for $1.

Colagreco said he doesn't care whether the land goes to the school district or the township, but he said at this point, he is leaning toward the township.

A fiscal impact analysis revealed the township would receive an additional $136,000 over and above expenses it would incur to provide services to the development; the school district would receive an additional $1.6 million. Traffic issues were also a large part of the presentation. McMahon Transportation Engineers & Planners conducted a traffic study of the area to determine the impact the development would have on the area. Included in the proposal is a plan to widen Route 724 to create a five-lane cross-section, two lanes of travel in each direction with a center turning lane. West Bridge Street would be widened to create a three-lane cross-section, one lane of travel in either direction with a turning lane. Several traffic lights will also be installed.

Christine McNeil, a former township supervisor who is currently representing a group called Concerned Citizens of East Vincent Township, said Gambone's development will forever change the character of the township.

"It says on our Web site, we are a refreshingly rural township. There is too much at stake here," she said. "If this development is allowed, we will lose who we are and become like any other suburb across America."

McNeil suggested a "smart growth plan" that could be devised by residents of the township and possibly include agricultural uses, such as a cooperative farm.

"This is the best farmland in the world," she said. "Why are we paving it? We are screwing the township by doing this."

She also suggested that uses proposed in Gambone's development such as a home improvement store, which has a provision for a 30,000-square-foot garden center, could put local establishments like Colonial Gardens out of business.

"We want to support our local businesses," she said. "And we want to stay true to who we are."

Township residents then presented the board of supervisors with a petition signed by 250 people requesting a delay in any decision on the property. Ryan Costello, chairman of the board of supervisors, said the role of the board at this time was to listen to the presentation from Gambone, and to get input from the residents.

"This is something the developer proposed to us," he said. "There is nothing being decided tonight."

This article was written by Karin Williams and published by Montgomery Newspapers on Friday, April 13th 2007 and NOT owned by nor affiliated with opacity.us, but are recorded here solely for educational use. The photographs featured in the article are randomly selected from the Pennhurst State School galleries on opacity.us unless noted otherwise; they may not directly relate to the article subject matter except for the site location - any other relation is purely coincidental.