Planned Business District Survey
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1. Planned Business District Survey

 
The goal of this survey is to obtain the opinions of those who live, work, shop or otherwise spend time in Abington, regarding the areas currently located in the “PB-Planned Business District”. Please answer this survey using the answer choices indicated.

The PB District applies to five areas in the Township:
Area A: Willow Grove Park (Mall)
Area B: Abington Shopping Center (“London Center”)
Area C: Noble-The Fairway
Area D: Huntingdon Valley Shopping Center (Rt. 232)
Area E: Foxcroft (with Acme)

Some of the things to consider about the PB District areas before you answer the questions include:
• Their size and depth
• Compatibility with adjacent uses
• Adequacy of surrounding road network
• Proximity to transit (rail, bus)
• (draft) Old York Road Corridor Improvement Plan


For questions on the survey, please contact Matthew Lahaza at 267-536-1002 or mlahaza@abington.org
The survey will be used by Township’s Zoning Rewrite Committee and will be available on-line until August 31, 2010.

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1. Residency/Employment. Please check any of the following which describe you:

2. Shopping. Do you shop in Abington Township?

3. Shopping by Area. Please check which of the PB District shopping areas, shown on the above map, have you shopped at?

4. Reasons for Shopping. If you have shopped or dined at the areas below, please indicate why (you may check more than one blank):

 Willow Grove Park MallAbington Shopping Center (“London Center”)Noble-The FairwayHuntingdon Valley Shopping CenterFoxcroft
Near home
Near place of employment
On way to-from work
Otherwise convenient
It’s one of the only places I could find what I was looking for
It’s a nice place to visit/hang out
I haven’t shopped there

5. Destination. If you visited one of the PB District areas as a customer or client, what was the reason? (please check all that apply)

 Willow Grove Park MallAbington Shopping Center (“London Center”)Noble-The FairwayHuntingdon Valley Shopping CenterFoxcroft
Large retail store (example: department or big-box store)
Restaurant/Take-out food
Other small retail store or shop (example: clothing, jewelry, crafts, specialty foods)
Bank or pharmacy
Other services (example: medical, accounting, or real estate services)

6. Development Character. For each of the five PB District areas, please indicate which option you prefer:

Option A: A pedestrian-oriented town center design built-to the street.
Option B: A suburban, automobile-oriented design, set back from the street.
See descriptive image below.

 Pedestrian OrientedAutomobile OrientedNo Preference
Willow Grove Park Mall
Abington Shopping Center (“London Center”)
Noble-The Fairway
Huntingdon Valley Shopping Center
Foxcroft

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7. Outparcels. If shopping center buildings or malls are set back from the street, individual “outparcels” are sometimes built along the street (such as a bank or restaurant). For shopping centers which are generally set back from the treet, do you feel outparcels are acceptable?

8. Minimum Building Height. Having a minimum building of two-stories may help create more vibrant, interesting, mixed-use centers. Do you feel, for the areas below, that the minimum height should:

Option A: remain one-story
Option B: it may be increased to two
See descriptive image below

 One StoryTwo StoryNo Preference
Willow Grove Park Mall
Abington Shopping Center (“London Center”)
Noble-The Fairway
Huntingdon Valley Shopping Center
Foxcroft

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9. Maximum Building Height. Some PB District areas are fairly large. Given a large enough setback from residential neighborhoods, it could be reasonable to permit a relatively tall building on a select part of the property. Given this, what is the tallest building you think would be acceptable in the PB District areas below?

Option A: 3-4 stories
Option B: 5-6 stories
Option C: 7 or more stories
See descriptive image below

Abington Hospital includes an 8-story building, and the Foxcroft area includes 9- and 12-story buildings.

 3-4 Stories5-6 Stories7+ StoriesNo Preference
Willow Grove Park Mall
Abington Shopping Center (“London Center”)
Noble-The Fairway
Huntingdon Valley Shopping Center
Foxcroft

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10. Permitted Uses. The uses listed below are some of the uses currently not permitted in the PB District, but seem like reasonable ones to consider permitting. Please check each of the uses which you feel should be permitted in at least one of the five PB areas.

11. Desired Uses. Please select the uses which you would like the PB District to provide more of (select and check up to four).

12. Mixed Use Requirements. Currently the PB District would permit a retail-only development, office-only development, or residential-only development. Do you prefer:

Option A: single-use developments
Option B: mixed-use developments
See descriptive image below.

 Single Use DevelopmentsMixed Use DevelopmentsNo Preference
Willow Grove Park Mall
Abington Shopping Center (“London Center”)
Noble-The Fairway
Huntingdon Valley Shopping Center
Foxcroft

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13. Public Gathering Area. Do you feel that developments of a certain size in the PB District (perhaps 3 acres or more) should allocate a specified portion of their space (perhaps 5%) for a public gathering area, park, plaza, meeting room, or other amenity?

14. Building Design. Do you support requiring buildings in PB District developments to meet minimum architectural design requirements? This might take the form of requiring a developer to choose at least 4 design features per building from a list of 15). For example, see Photo #16A below. This building features decorative and varied masonry, awnings, a projecting cornice, a varied roof line, and uses architecture to emphasize the entrance.

15. Building Design (#2): Do you support requirements that long facades have horizontal offsets to help them blend better with their surroundings and break up the bulky appearance of large buildings?

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16. Building Design (#3). Do you support requiring walls facing streets to have windows and front doors?

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17. Street Furniture. Shall we require developers to provide street furniture (such as benches, waste receptacles, and bike racks) in large developments (3 or more acres)?

18. Roof Treatment. (see descriptive image below) Do you support requiring buildings with (A) roof treatment, or should we permit (B) flat-roofed buildings? If (A), this might mean requiring building roofs to use a pitched roof, parapet wall, varied roof line, or a gable). In addition to making the development more attractive, roof treatments would hide HVAC and other rooftop equipment.

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19. Parking. Do you support the idea of prohibiting parking lots between the front facade of a building and the street or main access drive it faces to make it more pedestrian oriented? For a photo of a building with no parking between the building and the street, see 6A, 8B, and 12B.

20. Parking Garages (#1). If a parking garage is built on a road or access driveway, shall we require it to include occupied space (such as shops and cafes) on the ground level facing the street so it blends better with surrounding development?

 YesNoNo Preference
On existing roads?
On new roads or main access drives?

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21. Transit. If it was convenient for you to take a bus, train, or shuttle to one of the PB District areas, would you consider doing so?

22. Traffic Calming. Do you think requiring traffic calming measures at major pedestrian crossings in a PB District development is appropriate? (such as raised crosswalks, curb extensions or gentle speed tables)