Looking for a little light beach reading this summer?
Then don't read the Norristown Comprehensive Plan.
On the up-side, it's only 122 pages, with lots
of photos, a definite improvement over the plan it replaced, which was a
"War and Peace" wannabe taking up five volumes. But as books go, it's
not exactly a page-turner.
The thing is, though, all Norristown
residents ought to know what's in the plan, because the new zoning map is meant,
supposedly, to bring this plan into compliance.
So before the first workshop tomorrow night (6 pm at Hancock Fire
Company on Airy), let me equip you with a few quotes out of the plan.
"New construction should respect the
existing scale and mass of existing buildings. For residential infill development, structures should mimic the scale
and mass of adjacent homes on the block."
"New construction should pay attention to
setbacks, architectural style, materials, color, parking arrangement, and
landscaping. Consistency with existing structures will help to better
complement the existing character."
"New construction should pay attention to
setbacks, architectural style, materials, color, parking arrangement, and
landscaping. Consistency with existing structures will help to better
complement the existing character."
"Both rehabilitation of old buildings and
new construction should respect the predominant heights with the town and to adjacent properties. Two
and three-story buildings should continue to dominate, with a minimum height of 20 feet."
"The exterior materials used in a
building's design create impressions of both the individual building and the image of Norristown
as a community. The use of high-quality materials and neutral colors are encouraged to ensure compatibility with
adjoining buildings and the neighborhood."
Sounds great, doesn't it? It allows for new
construction without compromising our town style. In tomorrow's blog, I'm going to talk about
how all these guidelines are already being ignored, and why that makes the scariest
word in those quotes "infill."
But now, more about the plan. The most offensive part
of it, I thought, was chapter 4, which talks about land use and shows examples of
new construction that would work here. I
agreed with the first example, which showed Gothic style houses in Lantern
Hill, Doylestown (photo at top).
The other examples, though, were high-rises of 4 stories
or more in Dallas, Hoboken,
and Berkeley.
Someone please tell me why we have to go to cities that far away for examples.
Those places have nothing in common with Norristown.
In particular, they're all far larger in population than we are. Every example given would
violate the guidelines above. We don't need highrises in Norristown. Here, someone would find an excuse to approve them for Section 8 housing.
Instead, here are my own examples of the kinds
of new construction Norristown
ought to consider. The examples were all found in southeastern PA and fit our
existing architecture.
Rowhomes in Kennett Square, PA. Not unlike what we already have and the bricks would blend in. The only jarring notes, I think, would be those high steps--a lower stoop would be better.
Providence Town Center in Collegeville. This shopping center is built to look like a downtown (though sits out in the middle of nowhere). Still, the building styles would fit into Norristown's downtown (to fill in vacant lots). You could add a story to accommodate apartments or offices and they'd still fit in nicely.
If you want to glance over the town plan, go to http://norristown.org/userfiles/file/NorristownCompPlan_July2010.pdf
You can skip to page 25 to get the meat of it.
The style of Home in Kennett Square are much like some of the New Row Home along Elm St in Conshohocken which blended well in to the makeup of the rest of the row homes. One nice feature is that the steps are hollow in the back to store Garbage Cans since Elm has no ally access.
ReplyDeleteLove the hidden trash can idea. That would make the higher steps worth it.
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