Last night the Whitpain Township Zoning Board heard the Sober House case in front of an overflowing crowd of over 500 people at Montgomery County Community College.

The hearing last night was about a possible Sober House at a residence located at 813 Stonybrook Drive. On May 25, 2018, applicant Jane Medvetz, by way of her daughter and Power of Attorney, Lisa Medvetz, filed a Zoning Application seeking certain zoning relief to facilitate a 9- person Sober House use on the property located at 813 Stonybrook Drive, within the Township’s R-1 Residence District. Read about the details of the proposed Sober House here.

Take a look at the presentation below, as many zoning laws for our area are explained, and some language has been either clarified or a proposal to amended relevant definitions has been submitted.  The Board has a limited time to make a decision on this case, and that process is explained below as well.

Review the PowerPoint presentation from the December 12 meeting here.

The hearing last night lasted close to four hours and no decision was made.  In fact, there was not enough time for the public to ask questions.  Medvetz and her lawyer were in attendance. The Whitpain Residents Organization (WRO) also had a lawyer present to represent them.

The Planning Commission reviewed the case on January 8th, and their recommendation did not approve or deny the Sober House, however wrote a letter that suggested an agreement be established in the event that this house is ultimately approved.  Some of those requests include: safety issues being clarified, that a property value is established, that parking and traffic is addressed, that there will be some sort of reporting system in place between the operators of the Sober House and the township and neighboring residents and things like the screening system of residents are reported properly.  The overall feeling last night from the many reports that we received, was that the room was tense and contentious surrounding these issues.

Another hearing/meeting has been scheduled in order to give more time to a public forum on February 13th at Montgomery County Community College.