Susan Salkowski, of Eagleville, holds a sign as she participates in a march on April 20, 2024 protesting a proposed short term housing facility in Lower Providence Township. Photo by Rachel Ravina | Media News Group.
Legal action taken after township officials ‘suspend consideration of … zoning text amendment’
The decision by Lower Providence Township officials to pause proceedings for a proposed supportive short term housing development project on the grounds of Eagleville Hospital has prompted a lawsuit from the Philadelphia-based nonprofit Resources for Human Development.
A proposed zoning text amendment related to the project that was poised to sit as a separate facility on the hospital grounds was on the agenda for the May 2 Lower Providence Township Board of Supervisors meeting. However, administrative officials canceled the voting session, which “suspended consideration” of the matter. Township officials had cited “outstanding questions and concerns that have not been answered to their satisfaction.”
Civil litigation was filed by RHD on May 16 in Montgomery County Court, according to a docket sheet.
“Based on the township’s failure to enact the proposed zoning ordinance amendment, RHD filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas against Lower Providence Township. The purpose of the complaint was to seek a zoning permit for the supportive housing facility within the existing Price Building on the grounds of the institutionally zoned Eagleville Hospital,” Resources for Human Development Regional Director Owen Camuso said in a statement to MediaNews Group.
“RHD’s decision was not taken lightly. It was necessary to expedite and resolve the right to locate supportive housing at Eagleville Hospital,” he continued. “Consistent with the comments of the township solicitor at the Lower Providence Township public hearing, supportive housing is a legitimate land use on the grounds of Eagleville Hospital which the township must allow.”
Resources for Human Development Regional Director Owen Camuso speaks during a Jan. 18, 2024 Lower Providence Township Board of Supervisors meeting.Genny’s Place
The facility, known as Genny’s Place, was slated to offer occupancy to up to 60 single adults ages 18 years and older from Montgomery County for 60-to-90 days and resources to help residents live on their own in regular housing. Residents would undergo a screening process to ascertain eligibility.
In Montgomery County, rates of homelessness keep rising, as the county has gone two years without an operational brick-and-mortar homeless shelter. The Coordinated Homeless Outreach Center, formerly operated by RHD, served as the county’s only shelter for single adults. Situated on a piece of state land conveyed to the Municipality of Norristown for development, it closed in June 2022 when the lease lapsed.
“RHD’s proposal for Genny’s Place will provide much needed short-term housing and support to the homeless community of Lower Providence and other nearby Montgomery County communities,” Camuso said.
Members of the Lower Providence Township Board of Supervisors and administrative leaders are pictured during an April 4, 2024 meeting.Advocates react to protests
The project was met with opposition in the township, as area residents attended public meetings, coming out in droves to express their dissent and call for a halt to the proposed development.
A Concerned Citizens of Lower Providence Facebook page attracted more than 1,100 members. A change.org petition launched on April 15 amassed nearly 1,500 signatures against the project. Dozens of protesters and counter-protesters attended an April march in the neighborhood near the proposed project.
“I think the thing that surprised me the most was the level of vitriol that accompanied the protests around the development, and the number of mistrust and inaccurate statements that were made and promoted around it,” said Emma Hertz, CEO and president of the HealthSpark Foundation.
Mark Boorse, director of program development for the Fort Washington-based Access Services, agreed.
“It’s really characterized by just a lot of anger, and I think it’s fear-driven anger, but people are having a really hard time listening to each other,” Boorse said.
Camuso previously sought to squash misinformation related to the development of Genny’s Place. Residents had shared concerns about how the space would be a “homeless migration complex” and offer “housing (to) sex offenders.” RHD has maintained “no registered sex offenders will be offered residence at Genny’s Place.”
“It’s a transitional space for people who live in the county to find housing in the county where they live. It’s not anything different than that,” Boorse said.
Eagleville resident Heather Greaves holds up a sign on April 20, 2024 as she participates in a counter-protest as Lower Providence Township demonstrators marched to the site of a proposed short term housing facility in Eagleville.Surprised by pause
Camuso recalled being caught off guard when learning of the township’s decisions to pause proceedings related to Genny’s Place.
“Until the night of the public hearing, the drafting of the ordinance amendment by the solicitor and the feedback we received from the township led us to believe that they intended to proceed with enactment of the amendment,” Camuso said. “The Lower Providence Board of Supervisors’ subsequent decision to cancel the vote on the amendment essentially reneged on the previous commitment of the township, leaving us no alternative.”
Lower Providence Township Manager E.J. Mentry confirmed the litigation and made the following statement: “In response to the lawsuit filed by RHD against Lower Providence, the Township has been assigned defense counsel through its insurance provider. That case has been moved to federal court and defense counsel has filed a motion to dismiss,” Mentry told MediaNews Group.
“I was really disappointed because I was under the impression that the council had a good understanding of the project and that RHD had done a tremendous job in terms of providing information needed to make a decision,” Hertz said. “And so when I heard that the reason provided was that … the council still had questions that took me by surprise.”
“The conversation around the crisis of homelessness has become increasingly public, increasingly polarized and increasingly political,” Boorse said.
Housing crisis
Advocates have long attributed increased cost of living and rising rents to the issue plaguing hundreds of people living in Pennsylvania’s second wealthiest county.
As of April 2024, the median sales price for a house in Montgomery County was $450,000 and $1,886 per month to rent a two-bedroom apartment, according to a county spokesperson. Figures from a February conference hosted by the HealthSpark Foundation revealed that 20 percent of Montgomery County homeowners are considered “cost-burdened,” while 47 percent of renters pay more than 30 percent of their income to rent.
Around 74,000 households “live above the poverty line but below what it actually costs to live in Montgomery County,” Hertz said in February, noting those making between $45,000 and $75,000 are considered the “largest growing cohort of housing unstable families.” Evictions remain on the rise, with 22 per day reported in Montgomery County — the third highest eviction rate in Pennsylvania.
“We have a homelessness crisis because we have a housing crisis,” Boorse said. “The housing crisis can’t be fixed by the … service provider community alone. It requires the entire community to decide that that needs to happen.”
Demonstrators gather on April 20, 2024 outside the site of a proposed short term housing facility in Eagleville.While the fate of Genny’s Place is yet to be seen, advocates’ attention turns to the county’s most vulnerable residents, the homeless population in desperate need of assistance.
“It’s devastating,” Hertz said. “At the end of the day, that hurts people who are experiencing homelessness more than anybody else, and they continue to be left without a solution for even longer.”
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