East Mt. Airy Neighbors will host a community meeting at 7 p.m., Aug. 16, via Zoom, to discuss the townhouse development now being planned for the former site of Fred’s Mt. Airy Motors repair shop, a large property on the southwest corner of East Mt. Airy Avenue and the crossover of the SEPTA Chestnut Hill East train tracks. 

Developer Stuart Udis, who first met with neighbors via Zoom on July 12, said he has taken their initial comments into account and hopes to have new renderings ready by then. 

“I’ve been in communication with Sydney Street, Mount Airy Avenue and  Boyer Street residents as well as the adjacent garden operators,” he said. “We are actively working on an updated zoning plan that takes into account the feedback received by these immediate neighbors, along with more general comments from the first meeting.”

The lot, which is a flag lot with limited access and grading concerns due to its location right next to the bridge ramp over the tracks, includes two separate lots. 

As of July 12, Udis was proposing to build five buildings that would house a total of 24 units on the property. Two existing twin houses at 224 and 226 East Mt. Airy Ave. would remain in place, as would a community garden that stretches behind them along the eastern edge of the property.

At their initial meeting, neighbors said they worried about the access road’s impact on traffic, the development’s effect on flooding, and the height of retaining walls. They also requested that the developer include affordable housing.