Many thanks to Cheyl Allison for always being there. Here is the end result of the student housing issue. Our apologies to Bryn Mawr College, but we are looking at a bigger, future picture, not just their immediate needs. Everyone would have been a whole lot more comfortable if an accomodation for them and them alone could have legally been found. But the only way the township could do this was to look at the whole ordinance and change it that way. And now that is done, what were the interesting glances which occured during the vote on this item between select commissioners? Just askin'

Main Line Life: LM ordinance for student housing gets passing grade
By Cheryl Allison

The town-gown relationship in at least one of Lower Merion's college communities is about to get closer.In a unanimous vote Feb. 20, the board of commissioners amended the township's Student Housing Ordinance to permit a college or university to house a limited number of students in an off-campus apartment building.

The change is expected to benefit one institution-Bryn Mawr College-for now, and perhaps ever. Writing in a number of provisions to restrict its applicability, township officials say no other college or university currently could meet the requirements.

Although it's a remote possibility that a new academic institution could locate in an area covered by the ordinance in the future, the board decided that, for legal reasons, it could not, however, limit it to institutions in existence today.

Commissioners, responding to some community concerns, did, on the other hand, opt for a more restrictive version of the amendment in two respects.

They limited the number of students permitted to occupy an apartment to two...opted for a much greater separation requirement between apartment buildings used for student housing, choosing a distance of 3, 500 feet...Township officials have been forthright in saying that the change arose out of discussions with Bryn Mawr. The college, which will lose some student residences with the sale of its Glenmede Estate, has said it may have a need for additional housing. It was interested in looking at options other than building a new dormitory.

Commissioners last week said finding a way through the Student Housing Ordinance to accommodate the college's growth without building on open space on campus was a better alternative....Even with all those restrictions, several township residents urged caution.

"Clearly, the intention is to do a good thing," said Leigh Anne Smith of Bryn Mawr. But she said one concern was how campus rules-very general to begin with-will be enforced.

The ordinance builds in limits on its use for the traditional campuses we know today, Smith said. But, "We really don't understand how educational institutions are going to look in the future."

Carl Watson of Wynnewood had a specific scenario in mind. What if, he asked, the Wynnewood Shopping Center changed hands, and a college wanted to use some of the many apartment buildings in its vicinity? If up to 40 percent of a building's units can be used,"That's kind of the tipping point for that building" to become a student building, he suggested.

To Haverford resident Carla Zambelli, it seemed that, even as the township reexamines its relationship with large institutions as a part of its on-going Comprehensive Plan update, "It still feels like institutions come first, and the needs of citizens last."