Palmyra Borough Council approves road closures for holiday parade

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Palmyra Borough Council unanimously approved several road closures for this year’s holiday parade in the only action item at the July 22 meeting.

They approved the “closure of roads necessary to assemble and conduct the Palmyra Holiday Parade,” which will happen on Saturday, Nov. 15. Some roads will be unavailable from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with the parade starting at 11 a.m.

The route will begin at the intersection of West Cherry and South Mark streets, continue in front of the Palmyra Area Middle School on West Cherry Street, continue east on East Cherry Street, then go north on South Green Street, west on East Main Street, south on South Locust Street, and end at the middle school.

Palmyra’s Memorial Day and holiday parades are organized by the local VFW and Rotary Club.

Melrose development problems ongoing

Council also heard several public comments, including one from Dave McCloskey, a regular attendee who frequently speaks about his experience living near the under-construction Melrose development. He has said that developers have not properly managed stormwater, which is causing property damage to the nearby homes.

Council previously voted to allocate $25,000 from its capital reserve fund to address some of these issues, but officials said the plan was rejected by PennDOT in May.

Read More: Palmyra Borough’s fix of Melrose development stormwater problem stalls

McCloskey said he’s “tried not to point fingers at anybody,” but said there have been “some deficiencies that have occurred.”

“This has been an ongoing issue with water,” he said. “We’ve addressed it with council numerous times, we’ve brought pictures, we’ve brought videos, you name it, and council’s been receptive, but we’ve gotten nowhere.”

He said the blame has often been put back onto the developer, but he believes some blame lies on the borough for “not thinking outside of the development,” where the stormwater issues are occurring.

“Whatever we can come together with and get this solved, I would greatly appreciate it,” he told council. 

In other business, council heard updates from the zoning hearing board, which is scheduled to meet next Monday, Aug. 11, at 5:30 p.m.

One hearing will be for 740 W. Main St., where Gellato & Co. is asking for special exceptions to establish a proposed multi-vendor indoor antique, flea market, bazaar-style farmers market in the main building and vendor overflow storage in the garage building.

The other hearing will be for 633 W. Walnut St., where property owners are appealing the zoning officer’s interpretation of the method to calculate impervious cover or a variance in the total permitted impervious cover. They’re also seeking a variance to allow a 6-foot-tall fence in the front yard when only a 3-foot fence is permitted.

Palmyra Borough Council will meet next at 325 S. Railroad St. on Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. Meetings are also streamed on the Palmyra Borough, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania YouTube page.