Chalfont Borough Council recently voted 6-1 to adopt the municipality’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan update, a guiding document that sets down what the town aims to do in the coming years and how to go about doing it.
In the past, Council President John Engel has remarked on how it lives up to its name by being “truly comprehensive.” It is the first plan update since 2010.
The 2024 update calls for modernization through developing retail, expanding parking, building walkways and much more. The updates promise to stay true to “the values of the community and a vision of a better future.”
Mitchell Meyerson was the sole council member to oppose the updates during the April 9 meeting. Though he made time to compliment the plans in terms of its organization, writing, and layout, he went on to refer to the updates as both “conflicting” and “costly.”
Meyerson argued that an increased focus on retail development could bring more traffic into the borough, which is something he said Chalfont is already somewhat struggling with. Furthermore, he said adding retail would be expensive given other needs, such as addressing PFAS contamination.
Engel, who remained in favor of the changes, said retail development would bring in jobs. He went on to say that he doesn’t expect Chalfont’s retail to become huge and that he wished Meyerson had voiced his concerns earlier in the process.
Following the meeting, Meyerson had the following to say via text:
“What is a big concern for the Chalfont taxpayers [are] tax dollars funding another borough parking lot that will not get much use like the two underutilized lots we already have. The council is working to build a new lot on Kerns Avenue that will easily cost a million dollars…Why does the average taxpayer have to buy more parking for retail stores that don’t and will never exist in the borough?”
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