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A fox in a Phoenixville snowfall in 2017. The Borough of Phoenixville was recently recognized as a certified sustainable community.

Photo: Garen M. (CC BY-NC 2.0)

New Hanover quarry’s final appeal denied by PA Supreme Court
Gibraltar Rock’s 24-year effort to open a quarry in New Hanover Township has suffered another legal setback. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an order refusing Gibraltar’s request to appeal a decision that rescinded the company’s mining permit. Stephen Harris, attorney for Gibraltar, said the refusal of the Supreme Court to hear the appeal “was not a surprise,” and said the company will continue its efforts to build the quarry. Gibraltar Rock must now begin the process of obtaining a mining permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the company can still rely upon the preliminary site plan approval it received from the township in 2015, Harris said. The task will be difficult given the fact that groundwater contamination has been uncovered adjacent to the proposed mining pit. The township and advocacy group Paradise Watchdogs joined together to legally challenge the project. “This outcome reaffirms the diligent efforts of our community and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to protect our local environment and uphold the rule of law,” said New Hanover Township Manager Jamie Gwynn.
Source: Pottstown Mercury; 1/10/2025

Montgomery County seeks proposals for Airy Street Prison redevelopment
Montgomery County has released a Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI) for the county's Airy Street Prison Preservation and Redevelopment Initiative. Montgomery County has committed to redevelopment efforts that are considerate of the historical significance of the prison, alongside the desire to advance economic development and public policy goals of both Norristown and Montgomery County. The county is seeking to receive proposals by April 15 to envision the future design and adaptive reuse of two county-owned lots totaling 2.8 acres at the corner of DeKalb and Airy streets in Norristown. The public can learn more on the county’s citizen engagement platform, Engage Montgomery County.
Source: Montgomery County; 1/2025

Upper Dublin planning commission approves mixed-use development
In December, the Upper Dublin Planning Commission gave the green light to move forward a proposed mixed-use development on the Prudential tract by a 4-3 vote. The vote constitutes a recommendation to the board of commissioners to adopt an amendment to the ordinance affecting mixed-use in Office Center zoning proposed by BET Investments in conjunction with a concept plan for Promenade East, a residential, retail and commercial development at 2101 Welsh Road. Promenade East would comprise 600 apartments, 160 stacked townhouses, 100,000 square feet of medical or corporate office space, a 150-unit senior and assisted living facility, a potential hotel and a potential Upper Dublin police substation. The 90-acre site was purchased by BET for $30.25 million in 2022. The amendment was to go before the township board of commissioners on Jan. 14, but township officials announced that the public hearing has been rescheduled to Tuesday, March 11.
Source: The Reporter & AroundAmbler; 1/13/2025

North Penn delays sale of ‘movie lots’ for a second time
North Penn School District has announced that the sale of the so-called “movie lots” parcel has been delayed a second time for the developer to combine development plans. The first delay was to investigate environmental concerns. The parcels have been called “movie lots” because the strips measuring roughly 100 feet by 20 feet had been given away by movie theaters in the 1920s as prizes to people attending movies. The land was acquired by the district over the years after nonpayment of property taxes by owners. The district is attempting to sell the full, 56-acre parcel of lots to developer Pulte Homes. The latest requested extension would run until March 3.
Source: The Reporter; 1/10/2025

Tax credit program aids businesses in Chester and Montgomery counties
Nearly $650,000 in funding will be provided to eight organizations in Chester and Montgomery counties as the result of a program that provides tax credits to businesses that contribute to nonprofit organizations’ efforts to revitalize communities. The Neighborhood Assistance Program’s (NAP) Charitable Food Program and Special Priorities Program will provide $34.3 million statewide to support 218 projects. The 2024-2025 state budget doubled the funding for the NAP from $36 million to $72 million, allowing for two rounds of awards. “This state funding will provide critical support to some of our communities’ most vulnerable, from financially distressed individuals struggling to meet basic needs to low-income families requiring rehab grants to stay in their homes, to at-risk students needing math and reading support so they can do well in school,” said state Rep. Joe Ciresi (D-146). A list of organizations in Southeastern Pennsylvania benefiting from the funding is available on the state website.
Source: Daily Local; 1/14/2025 

Sixers to remain in South Philadelphia, undercutting mayor
When Mayor Cherelle L. Parker in September unveiled the terms of the agreement she reached with the 76ers to build a new arena in Center City, she vowed to go all out to help promote the project to the public and win city council approval for it. In December, as Parker was traversing the city to sell the arena deal, the Sixers were meeting behind closed doors with Comcast — which, through a subsidiary, owns the Wells Fargo Center where the Sixers are tenants — to strike a different deal entirely: one that would keep the team in South Philadelphia and scuttle plans for a facility on East Market Street. The team’s recent announcement that it would stay in South Philadelphia represented a blow to Parker, who expended significant political capital in her first year in office to tout the Center City project as “the best financial deal ever entered into by a Philadelphia mayor for a local sports arena.” Sixers managing partner and co-owner Josh Harris said conversations with Comcast began in early December.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 1/13/2025

With arena plan gone, Sixers, Comcast and City Hall offer vague promise to still revive Market East
The 76ers’ stunning reversal on their plans for a Center City basketball arena is another blow for East Market Street, one of downtown Philadelphia’s most beleaguered commercial corridors. The basketball team’s owners have long pitched their plan as a much-needed boost for the corridor. Now, with the 76ers teaming up with Comcast Spectacor and staying in South Philadelphia, City Hall officials, the team and Comcast sought to assuage concerns that the sports complex’s gain would be Center City’s loss. The Sixers retain options on an array of properties on the south side of Market Street, which they initially proposed to redevelop as residential and retail projects in tandem with the arena. What such an effort looks like now is unclear, and no details were offered. Retail vacancy is rife along East Market Street, and many of its office buildings have not seen their occupancy rebound after COVID-19. The urban mall known as the Fashion District (formerly the Gallery) reopened just before the pandemic and has continued to struggle. The Wanamaker Building next to City Hall is losing Macy’s, its anchor tenant and the last remaining department store on East Market Street. Parker has made the revitalization of the commercial corridor a top priority and said her administration will now prioritize a master plan for the area.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 1/14/2025

Curtis outbids Temple for UArts building
The Curtis Institute of Music outbid Temple University for the Art Alliance building, owned by the shuttered University of the Arts, a spokesperson for Curtis confirmed. The institute bid $7.6 million for the building, which is close to the school on the east side of Rittenhouse Square, at a live auction. The sale of the building at 251 S. 18th St., which includes a small performance hall, exhibition galleries and some outdoor space, will be subject to approval at a bankruptcy court hearing.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 1/14/2025

Historical commission greenlights new thematic district in Northwest Philly
The Philadelphia Historical Commission voted 10-1 to create a new district comprising 30 apartment buildings in Mount Airy and Germantown near SEPTA’s Chestnut Hill West Line. Unlike most historic districts, the properties that are part of the Northwest Philadelphia Apartments Thematic Historic District are not contained by a specific set of geographic boundaries. Instead, the buildings have a common history rooted in the city’s regional rail system, which drove a need for more housing during the first half of the 20th Century. The apartment buildings, built between 1910 and 1940, “brought about a transformation of this area of Philadelphia into a bustling suburb populated in large part by middle-class residents, thus having significant character as part of the development and heritage of the community as well as the city as a whole,” according to the nomination. Philadelphia now has five thematic historic districts on the register. Read more at PlanPhilly.
Source: PlanPhilly; 1/10/2025 

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