Palmyra Council approves Melrose phase 2 plan after stormwater discussion

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Palmyra Borough Council voted 6-1 on Aug. 26 to grant conditional approval for the Melrose development’s phase 2 plan, contingent on all of the borough solicitor’s and engineer’s comments being satisfied.

Council president Beth Shearer was the dissenting vote, saying she was against the project from the beginning and will continue to vote against it.

A photo showing runoff areas on the project site shows that phase 1 includes the eastern side of the housing development, while phase 2 includes the western side.

A major point of discussion during the second August meeting was a pipe running under Ridge Road. The pipe is misaligned by several inches and has a temporary connection in place. Borough manager Roger Powl said it discharges water directly onto neighboring properties.

For months, these residents have attended meetings to speak up about water runoff from the project, saying it’s not being properly managed and is causing damage.

Borough council approved a solution in January that would require paying $25,000 out of its capital reserve fund and using the developer’s Park & Rec fee-in-lieu money to remove the drain tile pipe along the north side of East Ridge Road and install a new drainage and infiltration trench system to allow water to flow east along the north side of the road.

In May, Powl said he had spoken with PennDOT, which admitted it did not have easements for the crosspipe under the road and didn’t want it removed because it would then have to acquire those easements. He said the borough would have to reopen discussions to find a stormwater management solution.

Council members asked attorney Bill Swiernik with David Miller Associates several questions before their approval of phase 2. Council had to take action at this meeting or it would have been considered a deemed approval due to an Aug. 27 deadline.

Swiernik told council they were waiting for their guidance on how to fix the pipe before taking action.

“I understand the concern relative to the development and as it relates to the storm pipe,” he said. “I think in order for the continued contribution that’s been expressed, it would make sense to proceed with the development as it’s been previously reviewed and approved as a preliminary plan.”

He said “only a portion” of the second phase construction contributes to runoff toward the property owners claiming damages.

Powl said he had a conference call with PennDOT scheduled for later in the week to discuss options, but he said he isn’t optimistic.

He said the borough would prefer to run the water down North Grant Street using pipes and inlets, but PennDOT denied that plan.

Though the Melrose developer has taken heat for the stormwater runoff management, Powl said off-site stormwater is the borough’s responsibility.

“This is considered off-site stormwater, so the developer’s out of it — that’s on us, and we’re trying to make an improvement,” he said. “We could have just said, ‘Sorry, that’s just the way it is,’ but we don’t want to do that. We’re trying to make it better.”

Powl said even with continued water issues, council likely couldn’t have voted against the second phase.

“We would have gotten sued and lost that,” he said. “The Municipal Planning Code lays all that development stuff out, and we follow that to the letter of the law, and so when everybody says that the plan is good, we have no basis for denying it.”

In other business, council:

• Appointed Donald Popp as a member of the zoning hearing board to fill the unexpired term of Tara Betz, expiring Dec. 31, 2026.
• Heard that there is a zoning hearing board meeting scheduled for Monday, Sept. 8, at 5:30 p.m. to continue discussions of 740 W. Main St. Property owners are seeking a special exemption for substitution or replacement of a non-conforming use of the zoning ordinance 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.

Palmyra Borough Council will meet next at 325 S. Railroad St. at 7 p.m. Sept. 9. Meetings are streamed on the Palmyra Borough, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania YouTube page.