Parking worries for the YMCA

From public discussions at this week's borough council worksession and meeting, it seems as though only the YMCA is worried about whether they will get enough parking in the new Mosteller Garage.
The business community lobbied for a bigger garage, but after the borough's Parking Committee endorsed a 75-foot tall new Mosteller, there was little comment at subsequent meetings from the business community.
But at Tuesday's Borough Council meeting prior to the vote on the height issue, the YMCA tried to pin the borough down.
The Y is trying to sell its building across the street from the Mosteller. In a week or so, the move will probably be complete to its new facility in East Goshen and the current building will be empty.
Marketing the building without any provision for parking could be a problem. Rumor is the Y originally wanted $3.25 million for the property and now the price is up to nearly double that amount.
Pat McKenna, counsel for the Y, said that the current zoning would require 200 parking spaces for a building of that size. The building never had any parking on-site which is grandfathered in.
Questioned whether the borough had provision for any spots for the Y in their alternative parking plan, Council Chairwoman Sue Bayne said the borough would do all it could to accommodate all the current monthlies. But in August, in a discussion of how many monthly customers the borough would need to find alternative spots for either in the Agway Lot or the Bicentennial or Lot No#10, no mention of the Y was made. In fact, the figure of 280 spots needed in alternative lots specifically excluded the county and the Y. The county's parking for jurors and courthouse employees was theoretically moving to the new Justice Center parking lot. The YMCA's customers were moving to East Goshen.
So now the Y is scrambling. Councilwoman Holly Brown says, no one should worry, she doesn't think all the spots will be taken. She also sugests a lottery.
The next step is to see who signs committment letters and puts up whatever money the borough wants as a down payment. If everybody has deep pockets, it could be a problem.

Upcoming borough Parking Committee meeting Sept. 8

For those residents who want to get the latest information on the Mosteller Garage replacement project, I recommend that you attend the borough Parking Committee meeting Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m. It's going to be a chance to give your point of view about how big the garage should be.
According to the demand study, put together by the Harman Group, the borough's parking consultants, the garage should have at least 844 parking spaces. The design study also written by the Harman Group indicates that the garage if it were to stay within the 75-foot height limitation and comply with stepback requirements, it could only have 763 parking spaces including a basement. But according to an internal borough memo, both the Walnut and the Chestnut streets sides of the garage have to have the stepback which will reduce the number of parking spaces to 700. A stepback is a section of the facade that stepbacks from the face of the building. It gives detail to the architecture so that the building does not look like a monolithic slab. But stepbacks take away parking spaces. Seventy-five feet equals an eight tier parking garage.
To complicate matters further, the 844 spaces indicated by the demand study doesn't include the Zukin hotel parking or the YMCA parking.
The Zukin hotel conditional use hearing was postponed until Oct. 13. Meanwhile, I've heard through the grapevine, that the YMCA is in negotiations with a buyer. No word on how many parking spaces that buyer will need.
I think it will be a little difficult to not go to 95 feet or 10 tiers. But then again, maybe the borough can't afford that large a garage.

PREIT AT THE PLANNING COMMISSION

It's coming down to the wire for the folks at Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) who want to build a large development at the Wyeth site. There is some serious opposition from the business community and the companies that have plants and operations next to the site.
At Tuesday's planning commission meeting, the commercial neighbors rolled out their big guns, hiring two attorneys and a land planner who made a one-and-a-half-hour presentation. The downtown business community was represented by the West Chester Business Improvement District who also gave the proposal the thumbs down. A vote came up to deny PREIT's ordinance that would govern the new development and that was voted down 3-2. From the way it looked, Planning Commission members Anne Carroll and Walter Hipple were convinced the plan in its current incarnation would not be good for the borough. But planning commission members Chuck Swope, Gavin Speirs and Joyce Sanyour seemed more confused about the motion put forth by Carroll. So it looked like they voted it down because they just weren't convinced.
But there were only five members there. Next month, it could be the whole board.
Planning Commission vice-chairman Sanyour was trying to move things along by asking the PREIT contingent if they were willing to compromise. At one point, she suggested that they get together with the industrial neighbors. Folks from PREIT said they had met with the neighbors, but it was uncertain if they just meant the residential neighbors.
The planning commission is only an advisory body. Even if they vote against the plan, borough council will have to make a decision. I remember going to the April 30 public meeting at the Chester County Historical Society where the project was rolled out. It seemed to me that regular folks who just reside in the borough or the surrounding townships were excited about the prospect of new restaurants and shops.

Hollywood is calling

Twentieth Century Fox called Councilwoman Holly Brown the other day. Actually, it wasn't the movie studio, but a company that finds locations for Fox. Evidently, location hunters were in town recently taking pictures of the borough as a possible location for one day of shooting for Marley & Me, author John Grogan's story about his family and their goofy labrador retriever. The film starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston is currently shooting in Florida. Brown broke the news during Tuesday's Public Safety Committee meeting. The company said they would have 10 large trucks and about 100 people for the one day of shooting around May 23, although the date was not firm.

DLN Pranked

This is something that was sent to the Daily Local News last week from a reliable source. It had us going for a couple of hours.


PRESS RELEASE
March 20, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Kesher Israel Congregation
610 692 7210
Happy Purim From KI
Kesher Israel Congregation to Purchase West Chester YMCA
By Morty N. Hayman for the Jewish Daily News

In a surprise announcement, Kesher Israel President Ilene Cetlin Lipow reported today that the board of directors of the Congregation has signed an agreement of sale to purchase the West Chester YMCA to be used as a recreational facility for the benefit of Kesher Israel member families. According to Lipow, private negotiations have been underway for over 4 months with the West Chester YMCA and their realtor. The YMCA is building a new facility on the corner of Airport Road and Paoli Pike in West Chester which is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Lipow said that the congregation would like to take occupancy by July 1 so that Kesher Israel members can start enjoying the benefits of the use of the Y facility by the beginning of the Synagogue's new fiscal year. An arrangement is being worked out such that Kesher Israel will go to settlement as of June 30th and lease back the facility to the Y for the duration of time needed to complete the new building.

When asked for details of the purchase price and financing, board members were reluctant to speak on the record, stating only that there were several very generous donations for the multi-million dollar facility, and that Kesher Israel dues were expected to double. Brad Rappaport, a Vice-President, confirmed that most Kesher Israel members pay substantial dues at area fitness facilities and would no longer have those expenses thus leading to no increase in net outlay for most members with some even seeing a decrease in their total worship/fitness budgets.



As expected, reaction was swift and varied. Vice-President Jim Tischler, a cyclist, mentioned some disappointment that the Y did not contain a cycling facility. "Hey, if I'm going to be paying for the facility anyway, I'll bike around the pool if I have to", said Tischler. Suzanne Taylor, another Vice-President, related that the community has had a Mikveh (a ritual immersion pool) on its wish list for years to be used for conversions, monthly ritual purifications, and other uses. "This superb facility has two pools and one could be easily converted into a Mikveh. I hate to bring this down to dollars and cents, "said Taylor, "but KI should be able to make some big bucks from rental fees for the West Chester Mikveh. We'd better if we're going to offset the new mortgage." Past Presidents Morrie Gold, Maury Hoberman, Burt Neil and Glenn Paskow, all members of Mitch's Gym in West Chester, stated that they are prepared to drop their Mitch's membership like a hot bowl of matzah ball soup. As Hoberman pointed out, "I've been studying the Talmud on this issue and it is my firm belief that a 50 pound dumbbell at Mitch's weighs the same as a 50 pound dumbbell at the Y." As a bonus, Gold indicated that current Synagogue Manager David Kleinman was a certified fitness trainer and would serve in that additional capacity at the new facility. "Members of the board were understandably surprised to find out that I had that capability," said Kleinman.
Rabbi Eric Rosin, spiritual leader of the congregation, expressed his pleasure at the addition of a recreational facility to the mix of offerings that Kesher Israel would have. "Between the new Mikveh, the ability to offer such classes as Torah Yoga, Jewish meditation, Kosher Pilates, Hagbah lessons, and others, this is a fantastic opportunity." Rosin's only misgiving came when he was asked about his plans for personal use of the new facility. "I've been looking for a gym that I could join where I wouldn't bump into members constantly. I guess I'll have to keep looking."
Lipow indicated that a small committee was being formed to kasher (ritually purify) the new facility. So far they've purchased the blowtorches, contacted the fire marshal, and are in the process of determining which pieces of equipment will need to be treated before July.
A grand opening and dedication ceremony is planned for the fall.

Happy April Fools Day!















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Sesame Street comes to the borough

East Gay Street will be re-named Sesame Street for one day Feb. 27 as a promotional device for Sesame Street Live:Elmo Makes Music, a theatre event at the Wachovia Spectrum March 5-9.
Unfortunately, neither Big Bird nor Elmo will be on hand in the borough to witness the name change.
However, Councilman Scott Smith is planning to attend the official re-naming at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the corner of East Gay and North High streets and there may be other borough dignitaries. Representatives from the Wachovia Complex/Comcast-Spectacor will be there to pass out handbills about the show as well as other "collateral" for any families/patrons present to see the event. This is as per the press release. No additional information is available about what exactly the "collateral" will be.

WCU's controversial parking garage

Something was mentioned at last month's borough council meeting regarding a comment in WCU's student newspaper about whether the university had formed a committee to look for another location for the parking garage. So I called Mark Mixner, vice-president for administration and finance at WCU, to see if I could verify that rumor.He called me back last week and said that it was not true. Whatever was in the Quad article is not true, he said. The university has not formed any recent new committee to look for alternative sites to the South New Street and West Nields Street parking garage. There are no plans to look for an alternative site, he said, we have already explored that.
So that's the latest from WCU. Not good news for the many residents in the area that are deeply opposed to this garage.