The three P's: principles,process, plurality. All were visible at the marathon meeting November 19th. My take home gift was waking up with a cold...Thanks Lower Merion for always keeping it real....

Last night the room was packed the the Lower Merion Township Board of Commissioners. Well of course it was. It had some particularly contentious issues on the agenda. And it was, once again, an agenda that was totally unrealistic and must have been created by someone who was time scheduling challenged. According to the township's schedule, this meeting was supposed to run like this:

Board of Commissioners 11/19/2008 8:00 PM
Public Hearing Notice 11/19/2008 8:00 PM
Public Works Committee 11/19/2008 7:50 PM
Building & Planning Committee (Special) 11/19/2008 7:45 PM
Board of Commissioners 11/19/2008 8:00 PM
Public Hearing Notice 11/19/2008 8:00 PM
Public Works Committee 11/19/2008 7:50 PM
Building & Planning Committee (Special) 11/19/2008 7:45 PM

Oh yeah, and then you wake up. Ten minutes was what was scheduled for Public Works which was River Road? The township KNEW full well the residents from River Road would show up, and basically the whole street showed on this application alone to protest Rufo Construction (same Rufo from Haverford School which I did not realize until last night) and the oops I can't ad sewer pricing and what the township can do to help. I left at about 11:30 p.m. and people were still talking about Suburban Square- Kimco incidentally dragged out like well over a dozen faces for their dog and pony show led by their attorney Jim Ettleson, former commissioner and King of eminent domain, and practitioner of revisionist history, and is that being too mean? (As a person, ironically, I get a kick out of Jim, but I wish he would represent people post-BOC just once in a while that didn't upset the same plurality he used to represent, know what I mean?)

So the meeting ended up finishing a little before 1 a.m. and most of it wasn't heard. Commissioner Gould had sharp words over it, and President Reed had sharp words in response.

Ok, both are right, but how about the bitter irony that on last night's agenda that was never heard was a discussion of howing to resolve these absurd meetings that are overly ambitious with regard to schedule?

You know what? It's not rocket science. Somehow other municipalities around here manage to get through what they need to get through and end the meetings sooner. So send some of that well compensated township staff to these other municipalties for research. Figure it out.

Then there is the issue of recusal. One commissioner who recused, quietly announced his conflict and disappeared from the board room for a while. One of the commissioners who recused themselves sat in the back of the room and maybe they should have gone into the commissioners' meeting room behind the boardroom because if you are recusing you are not supposed to be present because you aren't voting, so why not just slip OUT of the boardroom for the duration of the application you have recused yourself from? Even though we all know this commissioner is on the up and up, he sat in the back of the room behind the people from the application he had recused himself from, and well it looks funky, even though that I am certain was not the intent.

Last night in addition to the sewer, we had ROHO, Rockhill Road, and Mr. O'Neill's counsel. Mr. O'Neill was not there and what is up with Monty Hall the lawyer? Why is it I felt like we were all hearing let's make a deal? And why did this guy keep referring (again, like last week) to the litigation pending between the Township and developer? Is it just me, or was that rather uncomfortable? I will tell you what, I used to be quite ambivalent over this whole ROHO development area. Now I just shake my head and wonder if the construction will be similar to Conshohocken? Is this development going to be steel frame or wood? Taking this developer completely OUT of the equation, what have municipalities in Montgomery County learned since the Conshohocken fire? Will any of these municipalities ever do things differently?

So, now into my thoughts on the Suburban Square rezoning. We saw the Kimco dog and pony show and they went over the time allotted to them by Commissioner Rogan. We had glad handing, a very skewed introduction complete with revisionist history of Ardmore, and oh yes, the traffic study which further cements my belief that this issue is going to get as ugly as the Kimco issue in Harlem was unless the commissioners just say no (which legally they can by the way), right?

Many,many,many people stayed to listen to Kimco's presentation. And all had a sharp intake of breath when the traffic engineer showed the drawing where Montgomery Avenue is widened to five lanes in places. FIVE? And oh, just out of curiousity, how are they going to acquire that land? Who is going to sell to benefit a developer's project? Huh? Or will this be eminent domain worries AGAIN for Ardmore?

Many people spoke from North Ardmore and were quite eloquent. One speaker was representing the Ardmore Presbyterian Church and I can't help but wonder if they will be the recipient of spite reciprocity like the Friends Meeting on Conestoga Road in Radnor Township was when they protested a developer's plan? You see, both religious institutions depend upon others for some of their parking, and most of Ardmore Presby's is in the Ruby's lot, so will that continue now that they said "wait a minute, we're not sure about this plan at all"? I hope they will be able to continue on as they were before or that is just plain sleazy, right?

I was exhausted when I spoke, and rushed through my comments, so I decided to post them. It goes something like this:

I had an "aha" moment last week while watching the BOC on TV. It was realizing what I admired most about a lot of the commissioners: the way they stick up for principles that they or their constituents believe in.

Principles are very important things to adhere to, but you have to be adhering for the RIGHT reasons. Bad and problematic plans are not the correct justification for adhering to, in this case, certain principles relating to free market development. Don't allow a business version of Darwinian Theory to apply to development in this area; it's shooting an entire township in the foot.

Allowing Suburban Square to rezone and develop at this time is a collosal error, and economically it makes no sense and it utterly crackers. Unless of course Kimco has a direct inside hotline to God and Henry Paulson?

And isn't this quest of Kimco's convenient with regard to timing in Ardmore? As Main Street Ardmore finally begins to heal from the scars of eminent domain and community division, as Ardmore begins to gel and find comfort with the redevelopment plans and Mr. Dranoff the developer, Kimco wants to supersize and compete for market share? Who cares about a saturation point? And Kimco expects us to believe there is a need for people to live over a mall in a structure wrapped in more stores with a design that hearkens back to communist era blocks? A huge, hulking, architecturally deficient hunk of concrete and stucco built to the edge of the street?

Maybe Kimco has a need for this project to satisfy themselves for personal reasons, but it gives me pause. Why? Well after all, didn't Kimco by not only a beautiful and historic piece of property, but also a profitable one? And didn't they escape transfer taxes to the township of Lower Merion and her residents via a legal loophole? Isn't that enough?

Suburban Square has chronic issues which owner to owner are never really addressed. And historically, every owner of Suburban Square has thrown their weight around and gotten everything they want. So why continue a pattern of bad behavior? Why not tell Suburban Square to fix some problems and then come back with a more reasonable plan?

It is incumbent upon the Lower Merion Township Board of Commissioners to say no to this re-zoning request. It's not their time, and the economy won't support it, no matter how hard they try and sell it. Commissioners, I admire you and your principles, but take OFF the blinders. If you approve this re-zoning, you are betting on the wrong horse at the expense of Main Street Ardmore, North Ardmore residents, and the plurality as a whole.

I took a look at Kimco as soon as I heard they were contenders for Suburban Square. At that time I found little comfort in what I read. And today, I see it first person: they have very pleasant front men, but behind the folksy facades lie businessmen who are developers interested in what they want when they want it and I am not sure any of it has anything to do with community betterment?

Reading headlines from the New York Post like RAZING RAGE IN HARLEM and HARLEM SHUFFLE does not engender community confidence in my opinion (which I am entitled to). And just today I read this quote from Kimco's Milton Cooper in a Fort Wayne paper:

“The consumer is in pain and lacks confidence,” Kimco Chief Executive Officer Milton Cooper said on a recent conference call. “I think retailers will have a pretty tough 2009 unless there’s a new zoom in our economy and the housing market comes back.”

HUH?! So if the economy and housing market are so troubled, explain to me why exactly Suburban Square needs to be re-zoned and supersized at this time?

The LMT BOC needs to come together and rule "no" or "no, not now"; they need to rule in the best interest of the community of Ardmore and North Ardmore, not merely in the best interest of the developer.

Suburban Square may be classified as a "lifestyle" mall, yet I doubt the definition means shopaholics need to live in and above the mall, right?

I think Ardmore as a whole will stumble and fall if this township doesn't start to address and not just talk about bad planning. For once, they need to just do it and put the brakes on.

One last thing? The part of the Kimco presentation that was spoken/presented by former Commissioner Ettleson referred to their inspiration if you will for their plan. They referenced a master plan, comprehensive plan, the whole Ardmore debacle circa 2004-2005, and oh yes MUST (you know More Unfair Special Treatment?).

I have this thing about revisionist history. Mr. Ettleson conveniently forgets what all that circa 2004-2005 was about. It was about bad planning and eminent domain for private gain in Ardmore. And oh yes, pricey consultants that accomplished nothing that did he or did he not have a part in approving?

There is no Master Plan for Ardmore. Maybe he thinks so because we have asked so often for one?

There is no updated Comprehensive Plan for the Township. The last time one was completed was 1979, and as I understand it the MPC suggests one be completed every 10 years? Discussing the updating of a new comprehensive plan and actually completing one are NOT the same.

MUST. More and more we are seeing why MUST as is never should have been enacted. MUST is a flawed overlay that needs work, not more projects approved under it as is.

I'm tired of all this, and I am tired because these township meetings are designed for people who don't need sleep. See ya.