Lower Merion is a very beautiful and dysfunctional township. The marathon list of agenda items for the June 11th meetings is proof in the pudding:

Building & Planning Committee REVISED
Regular Meeting
Date: 6/11/2008 6:30 PM
Location: Township Administration Bldg - 2nd Floor Board Room
75 East Lancaster Ave
Ardmore, Pennsylvania 19003-2323

Look at the sheer length of the agenda. It is completely and utterly, impossibly ridiculous. If this is the best that staff can do, then what's up with staff?

Who benefits from marathon sessions? Would it be people trying to get stuff shoved through when government officials are so tired they can't see straight or when the public is so disgusted they just go home if they bother to show up at all?

Why is it other townships locally can schedule better? Why is it other townships hold meetings like this one on MONDAYS, not WEDNESDAYS, and they allot their time more properly?

There are very important issues on this agenda, and shall we start the pool now as to how long it will take before these commissioners get so tired and cranky that some leave the meeting while others break down into fits of bickering? And how irritating is what the public sees: the Democrats and Republicans sniping at each other, and the big development loving voting block versus the commissioners seeking some moderation?

And why is it that the super pro-development commissioners think they are representing the best interests of the taxpayers and citizenry of Lower Merion? Why not just be honest and let the public know they are only interested in their vision even if their vision means big hulking structures over train tracks, politically motivated and driven River Trails, the equivalent of sky scrapers in Ardmore, a mostly hospital focus for Bryn Mawr, buses falling off cliffs at Croyle, buses clogging Matsonsford Road every day,etc?

Why is it we are supposed to swallow like pablum the theory that in order for our town centers to be successful they have to have so much additional height and density? Says who? We can't move now, what will additional density do to us? Magically make all the cars disappear? Gas is well over $4.00 a gallon and here on the Main Line has anyone seen the groteque and gargantuen SUVs disappear off the roads? Heck, no. (After all, they need justification for the Garagge Mahals attached to their McMansions)

Suburbanites are overly attached to their vehicles. Should we be going more green? Yes, absolutely. But is creating so much density BEFORE we deal with the issues of cars vs. a broken public transportation system? We have a lot of living units NOW within walking distance of transit that are not all occupied or even probably in the shape they should be. And what is green about the odor of burning asbestos brake pads on the Septa Trains? You know, that nasty burning smell that is so prevalent at times as a train goes by? And why are we rushing to develop transit oriented development when Septa (and even Amtrak) isn't really offering the services it should be offering?

And let's talk turkey about taxes? Do we really know in Lower Merion how all the money is spent? Have we ever had a break down of all the outside consultants ever hired? What about staff in certain departments? How's it all fitting together? And what is the deal with budget workshops where the public can watch but not participate like the last one? Shouldn't we be able to ask questions if it is a public workshop?

What about the school district? Shouldn't they have a better keeper? Look at all the money they take? Is it dollar for dollar value? And what about the redistricting? Why does it have to happen? Will it be fair? How long will your kid sit on a bus now? Will your kid have the same education and not be traumatized from being forcibly seperated from friends at a tender age?

Back to the agenda this evening: Suburban Square. So they want to build on the Ruby's lot do they? Since when does a shopping mall need 200+ living units? It's not like what they are talking is housing for in essence, mall employees is it? The new owners of Suburban Square have "no hardship". They don't need to develop, they want to develop. Can it be considered if they are allowed to re-zone and develop the Ruby's lot they will ruin the Ardmore neighborhoods on the Montgomery Avenue side of Ardmore, as well as possibly doing the same to Main Street Ardmore?

Lower Merion Township can say no to this, but will they? Or will they say yes, but after the Ardmore redevelopment is completed?

And let's chat about Ardmore Redevelopment for a minute, shall we? Recent televised meetings and some article in the paper indicated that perhaps nothing was going to happen on the Bernicker lot? The space that everyone agreed was a great place for a much needed garage? So why couldn't the township build the garage? Taxpayers like to see tangible and practical use of tax dollars, and umm a municipal garage qualifies, right? Or if they want someone else to pay for it, let someone else build it. if the developer for the rest of the redevelopment thinks it's too expensive, why not offer it to someone else? It is needed,that lot. And it could be a dedicated spot for all those friggin' municipal vehicles that park at meters now. However, even if the future of the Bernicker lot is uncertain, more municipal vehicles could be parked there now, surely?

And the train station. Ahh the long fabled Ardmore train station. It's price tag sure is a moving target, huh? Think we'll see it in our lifetimes?

Hows about historic preservation? What about Class 2 structures? What's the point of having the ability to delay demolition by that 60 or 90 days if the commissioners always seem to waive it? People who purchase Class 2 structures KNOW that is part of the deal going into it, so why shouldn't they have to wait?

Comprehensive Planning? Wha' happened to the much heralded update to the comprehensive plan? The one that was supposed to blow the dust off the last plan from 1979? Lower Merion residents faitfully attended workshops this time LAST year, and all that time and energy and work is now wasted? Are we just going to sit back and let this township get so grotequely overdeveloped it will be virtually unrecognizable in as little as 10 or 15 years from now?

A Master Plan for Ardmore? Oh rigghhhhht, we supposedly don't need one because we have things like that super successful ordinance called "MUST" - you know that ordinance that has been revisited for adjustments several times but has yet to have a project built under it? So can a project get built under MUST? Who wants to start the betting pool?

A Master Plan for Ardmore IS necessary. Residents should demand one. They seem to have some semblance of one for Bryn Mawwwa, so why not Ardmore? So, when Ardmore looks like a cross between Philadelphia and Upper Darby, will everyone be happy then? Or will everyone be taking alternate routes to just avoid Ardmore in the future? If there is too much density and conflicting planning? You betcha.

The Barnes? What about the Barnes Museum? Why does it seem that not all of the Lower Merion Township commissioners are fighting to save the Barnes Museum? Or at least lobbying Rendell and the PA Attorney General to stop the madness?

And speaking of madness, isn't it funny how the working and middle class seem to be getting pushed out of Lower Merion more and more year by year? What, it's ok to pump the gas and clean the houses and flip the burgers and become elderly as long as those people live elsewhere? Diversity should mean more, correct? We're not all millionaires on this bus (not that millionaires take the bus).

So many questions; so many headaches. Do you have any questions for Lower Merion Township?

Please note that undoubtedly some in Lower Merion will get their skirts in a bunch over this, but guess what? It's an opinon, and the First Amendment allows it. Americans are allowed to be frustrated with government. It's how we all got started in this country, after all....