LANSDALE — Where are the perfect spots in Lansdale for dining tables and seats out on sidewalks, and where might the streets be too dangerous to allow outdoor dining?
That’s a conversation now underway by the borough’s Planning Commission, after a request by a borough brewery for outdoor seating near their location spurred a wider look.
“I don’t see this happening at every dining establishment, because there might not be enough room for (outdoor seating) to happen, but there might be a situation where a current business leaves and another one moves in, where the situation warrants itself,” said borough Director of Community Development John Ernst.
Earlier this month the owners of Round Guys Brewery, located on Wood Street between Main Street and Courtland Avenue, approached the borough about adding seating along Wood on a parcel that currently features two benches and several landscape features. Staff are looking into options for that parcel, Ernst told the commission, because the landscaping is technically located on borough land that had once been part of Wood Street before a realignment project several years ago changed the path of the road, but not the underlying property lines.
“Right outside their door, within one or two feet, is borough property. That would actually involve allowing outdoor dining to occur on borough-owned property,” Ernst said.
In that case, the borough could choose to vacate that property — similar to what was done in 2010 across Main Street for the outdoor seating outside Molly Maguire’s Irish Pub and Restaurant — but the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board would ultimately need to be involved in any changes in dining for establishments with state liquor licenses.
Ernst suggested the commission take a comprehensive look at where in the borough outdoor dining could work, and presented an ordinance from Conshohocken Borough that spells out their rules and regulations. In Conshohocken, sidewalks are typically wider than those in Lansdale where outdoor dining might be proposed, Ernst said, and parked cars tend to provide a barrier between traffic and diners that does not exist on certain Lansdale streets — and would new codes require that owners clean up the tables overnight, or specify the sizes of tables and chairs?
“I’ve eaten at some places in Manayunk where the table was maybe 24 inches wide. It felt like I was sitting in pedestrian traffic, but it doesn’t matter, it was a desirable place to eat, so my wife and I were eating there,” said commission Vice-Chair Kevin Dunigan.
“I think it’s a great look and feel for dining, when you see restaurants bringing those tables out and setting them out in the mornings. We do have narrower sidewalks,” said borough Manager Timi Kirchner, thus the need for a thorough look.
Not only would present businesses be impacted, Ernst added, but future developments just getting underway now should also be considered when drafting the code: new storefronts could arrive over the next few years along Madison Street as retail and apartment buildings are constructed atop the Madison Parking Lot, and businesses or restaurants that now front onto Main Street could find themselves looking toward Madison instead.
“This gives us the opportunity to at least have something in place, as those businesses start to react to the (Madison project) behind them, which now may become the front of them,” Ernst said.
Borough solicitor Sean Kilkenny said during Wednesday’s council meeting that his firm has been involved in reviewing the Conshohocken ordinance to see how it could be modified to fit Lansdale, and said the Round Guys sidewalk request was discussed in executive session after the meeting as a matter of real estate.
In other Planning Commission business, the commission also discussed a proposed stormwater management ordinance meant to bring the borough into compliance with the state’s Act 167 and new state and federal requirements concerning runoff from impervious surfaces. Ernst and engineer Jeff Morgan of Allentown-based SC Engineers Inc. gave the commission a rundown of a draft ordinance for the Neshaminy Creek watershed similar to those recently passed or up for discussion in several other neighboring municipalities.
Several years ago when talks on new regulations began, Ernst said, initial suggestions were that stormwater management plans would be required for projects as small as 250 square feet, “which meant that if you were doing a decent-sized patio on your house, you were going to have to produce something” meeting those guidelines.
After lengthy discussions between state and federal regulators and municipalities across the state, the new regulations exempt projects below 1,000 square feet from nearly all regulations and those below 5,000 square feet from several, which Ernst and Morgan said should minimize the impact for most residents.
“The large projects, the ones greater than 5,000 square feet, those will be the ones where the developer will have to have an engineer and architect involved, and go through the normal processes they go through now,” Morgan said.
That stormwater code was authorized for public advertisement by council Wednesday night and could be formally adopted when council meets on June 18.
The Commission also discussed potential development at the 1000 block of North Cannon Avenue, and whether a potential townhouse project there could spur a conversation about revising underdeveloped industrial district to allow for possible residential projects. Updates to a revised version of borough codes governing changeable electronic variable message signs have been vetted by council and staff and was approved May 21, and staff and county planners are looking into the process of updating the borough comprehensive plan, which is due for revision in 2016.
The Planning Commission next meets at 7:30 p.m. on June 16 at the borough’s Wissahickon Park building, 765 East Main Street; borough council next meets at 9 p.m. on June 4, with various committee meetings starting at 7 p.m. at the North Penn School District’s Educational Services Center. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.Lansdale.org or follow @LansdalePA on Twitter.
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