Joseph Hayik, age 75, a longtime member of Amity Township’s Planning Commission, passed away the morning of Sunday, March 30, while members of his church, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Weavertown Road, were lifting him up in prayer during the 8 and 10:30 a.m. worship services.
The Planning Commission’s April 9 meeting began with remembrances of Hayik and a moment of silence.
Chairman Paul R. Weller said Hayik served on the Planning Commission for 18 to 20 years, and was chairman for at least half of those years.
‘He took me under his wing,’ said Weller. ‘Joe was chairman of the committee at Boy Scout Troop 597 [St. Paul’s UCC]. He did it reluctantly, but he did it until his son graduated as an Eagle Scout.’
Weller followed Hayik in serving on that committee and also served as vice chairman of the Planning Commission with him.
Hayik resigned from the commission in January 2013 due to health conditions.
Weller was elected commission chairman on Jan. 9, 2013.
The township’s proclamation for Hayik, which Weller read that night, but Hayik never received — thanked him for his many years of service to Amity Township, and acknowledged his dedication and fairness to the public, which ‘is greatly appreciated.’
‘He will be sadly missed,’ said Weller on April 9, adding, ‘He loved to step on your toes every chance he got.’
‘I was fortunate to serve with [him and] the old board,’ said township Solicitor Brian F. Boland. ‘They really were the essence — fabric — of Amity Township. It was really special to work with them. They really had the community’s best interests at heart.’
‘A lot of ordinances [they created] were used as models for other municipalities,’ said Weller.
Original Planning Commission members that served with Hayik were Morris Brown, Ned Selwyn, Noel Davidheiser, and Henry Rhoads.
The commission and the township’s Act 209 Committee accepted on April 9 the Land Use Assumption Report (LUAR) that was revised by township Engineer John Weber.
The LUAR is the first step in the committee’s process of revising the traffic impact fees.
Traffic impact fees are imposed upon developers of new residential and commercial developments for future traffic (capital) improvements.
Current fees of $2,094.25 per PM peak hour trip in Traffic Service Area (TSA) North, and $2,076.04 per PM peak hour trip in TSA South, were based upon projected developments in 2005 that would occur through 2015.
After nearly 10 years of residential and some commercial growth, the impact fees paid by developers has increased the funds for TSA North to $1.4 million and $144,000 for TSA South.
Boland said the funds must be contracted to roadway capital improvement projects beginning in 2015 through 2018.
Weber said the future development calculations in the LUAR of one third industrial, one-third commercial/retail, and one-third offices for ‘Sub-Area 14’ at Route 662 (the Leaf Creek Area to Toll Gate Road), were changed to 40 percent each for industrial and commercial/retail (196,000 square feet for each), and 20 percent offices (98,000 square feet).
He said that revision was based upon market analysis information provided by Act 209 Committee member Blair Gilbert, KW Commercial, Philadelphia.
Sub-Area 14 is in Traffic Service Area (TSA) North and could include 306 residential units.
Peter Wanner, owner of Wanner Gardens, 31 Old Swede Road, and also a committee member, said he has a retail tenant who is unable to find retail space in the township.
Wanner said additional retail space is needed.
TSA South could have 56 residential units, 288,931 square feet of light industrial, 192,100 square feet of retail, and 185,433 square feet of offices.
The committee unanimously approved for Weber to submit the revised LUAR to Amity’s neighboring municipalities and school districts for a 30-day review and comment period.
Comments would be reviewed by the committee before the LUAR is submitted to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
Bogia Engineering, Inc., Wyomissing, is continuing to conduct traffic counts and compile the Roadway Sufficiency Analysis and the Capital Improvement Plan for the committee’s June 11 meeting.
Gregg Bogia, president of Bogia Engineering, said the final traffic count report will not and cannot include PennDOT’s traffic count data, which was also supplied by Gilbert.
‘The [Act 209] legislation is very clear what we need to measure — must count traffic movements,’ said Bogia.
He said counting the various traffic movements at intersections is different than counting PM peak traffic at a residential or commercial development.
‘If you want commerce in this municipality, you need to take the blinders off,’ said Gilbert, adding, ‘temperate it with knowing what the real world is.’
Boland said neither the township or Bogia Engineering can change the statistics to market the community.