JENKINTOWN RESIDENTS URGED TO SUPPORT SURFACE PARKING LOT
Click here to see a video of Sandra Goldman explaining the parking announcement at the Jenkintown Community Alliance’s community meeting on October 21, 2008 based on the following press release.
Parking Lot Is Key to Preventing Residential Taxes from Skyrocketing
JENKINTOWN….Are you suffering from sticker shock from the increase in the price of gas, food and other essentials? Borough officials warn that Jenkintown residents will see their residential tax bills soar if the Borough is unable to fill vacant storefronts and attract businesses to the community. After years of studies, research and surveys, Jenkintown is poised to move ahead with a parking plan to help attract businesses to Jenkintown. The surface parking lot proposed for the Borough will attract business and halt the hemorrhage of business privilege tax the Borough has been wrestling with for years. The shortage of parking in the Jenkintown Business District has made it challenging to attract and keep business in Jenkintown. Planning studies conducted in the Borough since the 1980’s have consistently identified inadequate parking as one of the key reasons businesses depart and forgo Jenkintown.
Now, through the efforts of a new borough manager and a borough council committed to helping Jenkintown realize its revitalization goals, Jenkintown is moving forward with plans to create additional parking within Jenkintown’s Business District. The numerous studies and plans that have been developed for the Borough cite parking as an essential component of Jenkintown’s revitalization and a catalyst for new investment.
Shoring Up Commercial Tax Base: Essential for Jenkintown’s Survival
According to Borough Manager Michael F. English, “Jenkintown Borough cannot survive if we can’t fill storefronts. Without the parking that will attract retail and commercial to the Borough, residential taxes will go through the roof in order to maintain Borough services at their current level. The alternative is to support the new surface parking lot that would increase the tax implication for the average homeowner of a home assessed at $150,000 to about $94 per year.”
An Important Step in the Borough’s Revitalization
The 2002 Jenkintown Revitalization Master Plan, prepared by the planning firm of Kise Straw & Kolodner and adopted by the Borough, recommends increasing parking in the business district to create a “park-once” environment, in which people leave their vehicles and walk between various destinations. The creation of additional spaces located within the business district would ease the demands on current businesses, employees and shoppers.
Borough officials are considering a site owned by the Pioneer Fire Company, which is located behind Pioneer’s facility on Leedom Street. Current tenants include an auto shop and a storage facility. In the 2002 Redevelopment Plan, these properties were identified as underutilized, because of their proximity to the Town Square. The property, according to the plan, is currently not being put to the highest and best uses for parcels within a core commercial area. These uses do not support the quality small town character that the Borough is fostering.
The site was selected after carefully considering a number of possible sites identified in planning studies.
Pioneer Fire Company will receive a payment that will compensate them for the property and offset loss of rental income, based on appraisal. The fire company will continue to provide services from its current location without interruption and options to support its outdoor training needs will also be explored by the Borough.
“Pioneer Fire Company has had an important civic presence in this community since 1884 and it will continue to be one. The proposed conversion of the rental properties into a surface parking lot will go a long way toward growing and enhancing the vitality of Jenkintown. I am confident that the Borough can count on Pioneer to support this much needed project,” said English.
“For decades, residents, business owners and Borough officials have supported the creation of additional parking in the Borough, but Jenkintown continues to wrestle with vacant store fronts and a dearth of shoppers. Anecdotal information from local business owners, the Jenkintown Community Alliance and realtors is crystal clear. Without adequate parking, we will not attract the businesses required to expand our lively commercial core. Creating more parking is the first step in moving Jenkintown toward the vision the community supports,” added English.
Map of lot proposal
