At a Civic Design Review (CDR) meeting on Oct. 7, TierView Development presented its plans for an 81-unit apartment building in Mt. Airy at 6903-6915 Germantown Ave. 

The CDR process, overseen by the city’s Planning Commission, is advisory and does not have the power to prevent a project from moving forward. However, developers are encouraged to work with the suggestions of the CDR committee members and neighbors in attendance. 

The Oct. 7 meeting was a continuation of a previous CDR session, at which committee members made suggestions to the developer, primarily regarding parking at the site. The site plan currently includes 11 parking spaces. 

TierView’s 72,167-square-foot design would sit on the east side of Germantown Avenue between Gorgas Lane and Sedgwick Street. Along with the 81 units, the building would feature 2,734 square feet of commercial space. 

“The Mt. Airy BID supports this request,” Mt. Airy Business Improvement District’s Executive Director Janis Risch told the Local. “We were satisfied with the developer’s efforts to minimize the loss of trees while being responsive to requirements from the historic preservation committee.”

She added, “Overall, the project meets the BID’s goals to add residential density and commercial use to the Germantown Avenue commercial corridor. This project has the potential to spur business development between Gorgas Lane and Pelham, similar to the way that the multi-family projects between Westview and Hortter have spurred business development between Phil Ellena and Upsal Streets.” 

At the beginning of the meeting Meredith Ferleger, a lawyer representing the developer, said, “The developer has elected not to make any changes to the project since the last meeting … While the developer does continue to explore ways to incorporate additional plantings and landscape and some other feedback provided both by the community and this committee, no other changes are proposed to the project at this time.” 

Ferleger noted that outside of the CDR process, the developer has met with the community and local Registered Community Organizations on multiple occasions to take suggestions. 

She added, “The project is significantly constrained by the historic designation and was already considerably redesigned to avoid the loss of significant heritage trees on the site.” 

At the end of the meeting, committee members expressed frustration with the developer over the lack of changes made to the project. In response, representatives of the developer said they are looking into a number of changes, but did not have any changes to present at the meeting due to time constraints. 

“It’s a real missed opportunity,” Daniel Garofalo, the committee vice chair, said. “The comments from the design review committee and professional planning staff at the [Planning Commission] invariably add value for the developer. … We’ve seen time and time again that when developers have the presence of mind or the ability or the foresight to take good advice offered by seasoned professionals, their projects get better.” 

He added, “It’s depressing to see developers, especially a developer of a sizable project that has the resources of a good architect at their disposal, to ignore an opportunity to make their project better, better for the people that live there this year, next year, 20 years from now and 50 years from now, and also better for the neighbors.”

Parking concerns 

A handful of near neighbors spoke at the meeting, expressing concerns over the lack of parking in the project’s design. 

Sara Greene, who lives next to the property, expressed concerns over the already crowded parking situation on Gorgas Lane. 

“There’s only parking on one side of this street, on Gorgas Lane,” Greene said. “When it’s all said and done, I honestly cannot imagine the amount of cars. In our neighborhood, I just can’t even imagine how that’s going to work.”

These concerns were echoed by East Mt. Airy Neighbors, with board member Christopher Booth commenting on the project at the meeting. 

“Realistically, we are talking about an 81-unit apartment building that will only account for 11 parking spaces. … Conservatively, we are looking at, possibly on a regular basis, having 51 to 61 parking spaces on Germantown Avenue and Gorgas Lane,” Booth said. “That particular area is very, very densely populated as it is right now.” 

In response, TierView Development Principal Jenn Patrino said, “We are absolutely still looking to try and find a parking solution. It will not be on-site. We are looking at additional plantings due to the ecological concerns raised by the participants, and unfortunately, I have funding constraints as far as timing, and we were not able to make the changes in order for this meeting.”

This effort to find parking solutions was echoed by Risch, telling the Local, “This developer has a strong track record of working with the community. They have made several good-faith efforts to secure off-site parking for their other projects and will likely do so for this project.” 

Concluding the review

With the meeting concluding the CDR process, the committee made a handful of comments for the developer moving forward. 

The committee emphasized the need for a traffic study to understand the potential impact of the project, and said the developer should take into account the safety concerns raised by near neighbors. 

Tommy Tucker can be reached at Tommy@Chestnuthilllocal.com.

The story  was updatated on  Oct. 21 to more accurately reflect the zoning process.