Philly 'Bricks and Sticks'

Newsweek just released its 2007 list of America’s Top Public High Schools. The complete list only includes 1,300 high schools which are considered the top 5% in the country. From this area, the following made the cut:

• #156   JR Masterman  (Philadelphia)
• #301   Conestoga (Berwyn)
• #488   Lower Moreland (Huntingdon Valley)
• #950   Harriton (Rosemont)
• #1090 Lower Merion (Ardmore)
• #1163 Central (Philadelphia)
• #1171 Wissahickon (Ambler)
• #1227 Great Valley (Malvern)
• #1319 Council Rock North (Newtown)
• #1332 Central Bucks West (Doylestown)

Tredyffrin residents can expect a small increase in their real estate tax rate next year. According to The Suburban and Wayne Times, the township’s preliminary 2008 budget calls for a 3.3% increase in millage, from 2.11 to 2.18 mills. A mill is $1 of tax paid for each thousand dollars of a property’s assessed value. The average house in Tredyffrin is assessed at $220,000, meaning the average taxpayer will pay an extra $15 in real estate taxes.

Lower Merion commissioners approved a development plan that calls for expansion of the Waverly Heights retirement community. The plan includes expansion of the health care center and construction of 18 more residential villas.

Source: Main Line Times; 10/18/07

The Tredyffrin Board of Supervisors completed a straw poll to determine if the newest Town Center District zoning should stand. The TCD zoning allows for commercial and residential development along the Lancaster Pike corridor to Route 252 and township Line Road in Paoli. The district has been a concern to township officials and residents due to potential density issues, but will stand due to a four to one vote.

The Tredyffrin /Easttown School Board is considering options that would reduce taxes for seniors and other low-income households. The board is considering options to include matching a state rebate on property taxes for seniors or providing a tax credit to senior who volunteer in schools.

Source: Daily Local News; 10/20/07

Robust Micromarkets Defy Housing Slowdown
Amid national and regional housing market slowdowns there are certain communities and ZIP codes that are going against the grain — exhibiting strong market fundamentals even as the surrounding areas suffer.

Metropolitan areas where some key ZIPs have continued to rise in value, while others have stagnated or dropped, include: Coral Gables, near Miami; Pacific Heights and the Marina area near San Francisco; and the 20015 ZIP code in Washington D.C.

Where can you find these oasis micromarkets? Experts say these factors are telling:

• Established neighborhoods near jobs, which don’t require residents to make long commutes.

• Residents with healthy incomes, and home prices to match. Typically these are not first-time buyer markets.

• Local school systems are highly regarded.

• Crime rates generally are low.

• Foreclosures are not predominant. These tend to areas without many subprime mortgages, and without the negative effects of rising foreclosures caused by payment-shock loans.

What neighborhoods in suburban Philly fit this description? Let me begin this conversation thread by pointing out the Main Line.

The Lower Merion Building and Planning Committee denied a certificate of appropriateness for changes to a home in Gladwyne Village’s Merion Square Historic District. The decision stops developer Gary Gevurtz from making changes to an 1880s Victorian farmhouse. Gevurtz decided to work with residents on forming a design that meets the standards for the district.

The Natural Lands Trust of Radnor Township submitted an application to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for $750,000 in open space funds. The funds will be used to purchase the remaining 360 acres of Ardrossan Farm lands. Radnor Township voters approved a $20 million open space bond referendum to support land preservation.

Radnor Township officials are working with the Bryn Mawr Business Association to develop a Business Improvement District (BID) for Bryn Mawr. The district would be a local authority enabled by state legislation to promote business in the commercial district. If developed, all commercial properties within the boundaries of the BID would be subject to a special assessment.

The Lower Merion School Board approved a plan to spend almost $103 million for reconstruction of Harriton High School. The expenditure exceeds the predetermined cap of $98.2 million. The new high school will increase in size from 176,000 square feet to around 328,000 square feet.

The East Whiteland Planning Commission recommended approval of a preliminary land development plan for Whiteland Village. Roskamp Management Co. proposed an 850-unit continuing care community on a Superfund site in East Whiteland. The land was once used for mining and excavating lithium ore and has been under close inspection by the Environmental Protection Agency. The development is expected to break ground in August.

The Tredyffrin Board of Supervisors and the Tredyffrin Planning Commission are ready to approve a new plan for Paoli rezoning. The proposed plan removes the Special Paoli Development District and rezones the area into C-1 and mixed-use development. The new zoning map rezones the area of Route 30 from 252 to the township line for mixed-use development and the area from Glen Avenue to Route 252 as C-1 zoning. 

Voters across Pennsylvania voted overwhelmingly against Act 1 referendum questions during last Tuesday’s primary election. Only four of Pennsylvania’s 498 school districts, including Bristol Borough in

Bucks
County, approved the tax shift designed to provide homeowners with greater reductions in property taxes.

Pennsylvania’s Taxpayer Relief Act (ACT 1) mandated that school districts place a referendum question on the May 15, 2007 primary election ballot asking voters whether earned income (EIT) or personal income (PIT) taxes should be increased, or instituted for the purpose of reducing real estate taxes on qualified residential properties. All school districts in Pennsylvania, other than Philadelphia, Pittsburg and
Scranton, are required to place a referendum question on the ballot. Click here to see the referendum question and result for each school district in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and

Montgomery
Counties.  

Lower Merion’s zoning hearing board will review a new 37-unit development proposal tonight. SWL and Associates LLC is seeking a special exception under a code provision for subsidized/affordable housing in order to create a three-story condominium building on

and

. Township officials say a condominium sales price of $320,000 qualifies as affordable in
Lower Merion, with an income limit for a household of one or two persons at $72,000, and for three or more at $82,900.

The Haverford School Board awarded $18.7 million in contracts for construction of the new

Manoa
Elementary School. The project will break ground in mid-May and will temporarily close Williamson Field.