Wednesday
September 18, 2024 
Nearby residents have a Plan B if the Springfield zoning hearing board this month permits a farm to expand its commercial activities.
Michael Clime and Dr. Gerrianne Burke, whose home overlooks the proposed entertainment venue, have obtained a legal document that allows any of the 11 lot-holders of their subdivision, to enforce restrictions, including banning commercial activity on any adjoining properties. Those who border the property claim the noise from the events, particularly weddings, will disrupt their quality of life, and the location is not suitable for the volume of traffic that would ensue.
Applicant Brian Pieri, owner of the Pieri Hospitality Group, is requesting a special exception to allow up to 24 private and public events per year on his 26-acre farm on the 2100 block of Route 212. These events would include social dinners, corporate events and weddings.
In an interview last month, Clime and Burke said they would be shocked if the application is approved on May 17 over the objections of 275 residents but insisted they would appeal and are quietly confident of success. “They (the township) did not realize that the Pieri lot is part of the High Meadow subdivision.”
The township’s zoning ordinance does permit farms to have accessory uses, such as sale of products, horse rides and seasonal festivals. “Accessory uses assumes that it’s a farmer trying to supplement the income to keep his farm operating. Mr. Pieri is a restaurateur with a farm; he should not qualify for the special exception,” Burke said.
“He has no hardship,” Clime added. “He makes money from his Airbnb; he makes money from his farm stand in Conshohocken; he will be making money from vineyards on his Springfield property.”
Over the course of their research, the couple found another problem with Pieri’s plan: county Department of Health regulations that restrict use of porta potties to two or less public events per year. “Any more than two they require a full sewage management system, and it’s a tremendous expense to put in some sort of system that could handle 90-plus guests, employees, vendors the system would have to handle,” Burke said.
Also fiercely opposed are Alice Yates, a wedding florist, and Jim Plunkett, a transportation specialist with over 30 years’ experience who analyzed crash data in the vicinity of the farm and pointed out the danger of allowing numerous vehicles manned by people unfamiliar to the area to travel down that section of Route 212, which lacks shoulders and streetlights.
Yates, who has participated in more than 1,000 weddings concurred. “It is a disaster waiting to happen.” Speaking at the second hearing, she noted all that weddings are typically not one-day events, and besides guests, would bring a support staff of caterers, cooks, cleaners, and hairstylists to an area she considers ill-equipped to handle such traffic.
Addressing opponents, Pieri’s wife, Christina, insisted the family’s goal was not to “ramp things up” on the property. “We’re not trying to grow into a giant wedding venue.”
In response, resident Walt Siegel, who spoke in opposition, quipped, “We really ought to listen to our wives.”
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