At Wednesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, Cheltenham Township leaders took the opportunity to quell rumors regarding plans for a public pool at the Melrose Country Club redevelopment.

Those rumors involved the ground lease’s structure, the township’s usage of “township amenity” over the previous months, changes to the original plan, and associated funding, among other matters.

Since then, township officials have addressed additional concerns from area residents regarding a final proposal attached to August’s Planning Commission agenda which purportedly eliminates a green space in favor of a parking lot.

Township solicitor Edward Diasio told Glenside Local that the confusion stems in part from a January 2026 document which shows the pool area and an adjacent parking lot.

“That parking lot was presented to the Zoning Hearing Board in March because the pool was being relocated internally. The pool moved from the corner into the center of the property, so there was parking adjacent to the pool, and it wasn’t needed any longer,” Diasio said. “When parking requirements were counted, the board dedicated it as green space.”

Diasio said the possibilities for the space are “limitless.”

“It could be trees, shade structures, a nature area. The board has been very clear that there are no plans at this time,” he said.

“It’s a parking lot that is now going to be a green space,” Board of Commissioners president Matt Areman said.

Both agreed that the developer (Melrose Pool, LLC) is moving through the development process as expected.

“Throughout the various phases of this development, the developer has to go through various levels of review. For this phase of the development, they are proceeding through the normal course that any other applicant looking for zoning relief would have to go through,” Areman said. “This is the application that goes along with that process.”

Diasio said that Phase 3’s plans are not going back to the Zoning Hearing Board “because there’s no additional relief requested. It will come before other committees and be reviewed by staff before it goes to the board.”

Diasio and Areman urged area residents to be wary of misinformation making its way through social media outlets.

“There’s a great deal of conclusory statements, partial truths, and in some cases outright misrepresentations that appear to be part of an agenda that is being pushed,” Areman said. “As a result, members of the public looking for direction from social media posts are being steered in a direction that is far from actual truth.”

“There have been questions about the litigation. The board is confident in its legal position that everything that’s been done in this process has been legally above board and is in compliance with the law and our township charter,” Areman continued.

Areman and Diasio noted that the township and the developer were obligated to submit a legal memo on Friday in response to resident Sam Thacker’s lawsuit. That memo is below:

Diasio noted that the Montgomery County Planning Commission has reviewed Phase 3’s planning documents.

“The commission has looked favorably upon it. This is a very well thought out project and is receiving quite a bit of support,” Diasio said.

Areman noted that the township will be publishing supplemental FAQs along with the legal memo “as soon as possible.”

You can read our previous coverage of the project, which includes a background to the recent controversy and the township’s responses to associated concerns. You can read more about Phase 2 here and review building plans here.

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