Media Borough Council Approves Final Hampton Inn Plan

approved the final development plan for the proposed Hampton Inn at Beatty and Providence roads at its meeting Thursday night.

The final plans from Pinnacle Hospitality Group, the developer for the project, were approved with 31 conditions attached. The

The council voted 5 to 1 to approve the project, which was first proposed in 2007, with Councilman James Cunningham voting against it. Councilman Peter Williamson was absent from the meeting.

A few of the conditions listed for the project are that the developer must also get final approval from Nether Providence Township, make post-construction lighting adjustments to reduce spill-over light onto Allen Lane and Pennock Place properties, and apply to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for construction of 5-foot-wide sidewalks on the west side of Providence Road from Pennock Place to East Jefferson Street.

If PennDOT does not approve the construction of sidewalks the developer must make a contribution to the borough estimating the sidewalk cost and the borough will attempt to have the sidewalks constructed.

Another condition to the agreement included a $35,000 contribution to the borough that will be used to repave Beatty Road and install a traffic signal at the corner of Beatty and Providence roads, after completion of the project.

(See the attached PDF file for the full list of 31 conditions. Note: No. 16 was changed to reflect that the Beatty Road repaving would occur after the completion date, not prior.)

Cunningham said he was not in support of the project because it is too intense for the location.

"When I was a private citizen I was opposed to this development because I thought it was too intense of a development on too limited a sight, which echoed the general opinion of the residents in that neighborhood," he said. "I supported those residents and ran for council in 2007 because I was unhappy with this development as it was unfolding and that’s one of the major reasons I’ve sat here the last four years."

After several years of review of the project, Cunningham said, he thinks the same questions are being asked and the same incomplete answers are being presented.

"This has been a constant complaint of residents in that area that the answers to questions of concern to them have been 'maybe,' 'perhaps,' 'we’ll see,' 'we don’t think so,' 'we’ll try,' and I don’t think those questions have been adequately answered," Cunningham said.

Council President Pete Alyanakian said he also had concerns about the project over the years but this final plan is "softer" than it was originally proposed.

But, he said, there are some things in the agreement like traffic that still concern him as well.

"I see awful traffic jams being there in the future," Alyanakian said. "…But I think we’ve tried to incorporate the residents concerns. And as much as an impact as a building of this magnitude is going to have on a neighborhood, I think we’ve worked hand-in-hand with them to try to get the best plan in place."

Councilwoman Monica Simpson said whenever there is a development in someone’s "backyard" it raises concerns and affects them immediately.

However, she said, there are 5,000 residents in Media and the council needs to balance what they feel is the best interest for the whole community.

She said a Super Wawa or restaurant could have been built at that location and impacted the neighborhood in a different way.

"I believe that the impact on the neighbors can be better judged after the project has been executed and I think that again we have to look at the full community when making decisions," Simpson said.

Councilman Dr. Eric Stein said he thinks the hotel will add value to the borough.

"The bottom line is I think when it comes to business, Media is trying to build itself as a place that is a destination," he said. "We don’t have a nice place where people can stay for an extended period and I think that adds value to what we offer as a community and adds value to the bottom line of the economic development of this community."

Hampton Inn and developer representatives were at the meeting and thanked the council for the approval.

"Hopefully, once it’s done you’ll see it as a positive project," a developer representative said.

The council welcomed the Hampton Inn to Media.