BDC hosted the second community meeting for the hotel development proposed for 4520 Penn Ave. near Children’s Hospital. The hotel is 4-stories with approximately 115 rooms, about 60 parking spaces, and a small retail storefront. Access to the parking garage in the basement would be off of Comrie Way. In the first community meeting, attendees asked for a second meeting to address questions on the hotel’s impact on traffic, pedestrian and bicycling safety, and parking in the neighborhood.
The development team presented on the hotel designs again and a draft traffic study. Most of the questions from the community went to the traffic engineer who said that he expected the hotel to generate 65 trips during rush hour, but overall the traffic added will not be significant. Many residents were concerned about the hotel garage access to Comrie Way and how that would affect traffic and safety in the area. By the end of the meeting, many residents felt that the development team had not provided enough information. The development team did not provide a finalized construction parking plan and traffic study. Many people were concerned about the scale of the building.
BDC will present the community’s input at the Zoning Board hearing on Feb. 9 at 9:40a at 200 Ross St. on the 1st floor. Residents and business owners are also welcome to speak at the meeting in favor or against the development. BDC’s letter to the zoning board will be posted soon.
Read the meeting notes for the 1/30 meeting. If you missed the first meeting on 12/15 you can find the notes here.