The Elkins Park Neighborhood Coalition, an environmental conservation organization, is circulating a petition in opposition to a proposed development at 222 Church Road. Plans for the development date back to November 2021.

For additional information from the Coalition, you can visit this website. For an updated list of development activity on behalf of Cheltenham Township, you can click here.

From the petition, which is published on Change.org:

Neighbors and community members in Elkins Park and surrounding areas, please help us protect our neighborhood and let our Cheltenham Township commissioners know that we oppose the proposed development at 222 Church Road by Zvi Bloom (owner of Season supermarkets, which bankrupted in 2018).

The proposal doesn’t serve our community’s needs or meet our standards for responsible development.

The proposal calls for the construction of eight new houses on approximately 5 acres of land. This plot is currently wooded, full of wildlife, and borders Tacony Creek. Besides valuing our quiet, green areas and the quality of life they give us, we neighbors have several strong concerns about this development. 

First, this is an area that already experiences flooding. Our township has recognized the importance of upgrading our stormwater management to prevent dangerous or destructive floods. A development like this runs contrary to those goals and could increase the risk of damage from flooding.

Second, traffic is a major concern for many in this neighborhood. Church Rd already handles a high volume of traffic for its size, with cars backed up for blocks every day during rush hours. Smaller roads like Harrison and Cedar aren’t built for the amount of traffic they’re getting as cars increasingly try to avoid Church. This is also a safety issue for families with houses on these roads.  There have been already many incidents at the intersection of Church Road and Cedar Road. This development would only bring more traffic and do nothing to alleviate this problem.  

Finally, green spaces need our protection now more than ever. Our community values the trees and parks that make our neighborhood beautiful. The developer, who doesn’t live here, bought this wooded property with a verbal understanding that they would not build anything more than a “guest house” only to turn around and submit a proposal for 8 additional houses. The developer will need to obtain a waiver to continue as he plans to destroy more than 50% of the woodlands, which goes against our State Law for the Natural Feature Preservation #260-31.