PREIT loses appeal regarding apartments at the Plymouth Meeting Mall

PREIT, the owner of the Plymouth Meeting Mall, has lost an appeal before the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas involving its effort to construct a 503-unit apartment community on the mall property. In 2021, Plymouth Township’s zoning hearing board voted to not grant a special exception to PREIT that would have allowed the planned development to move forward.

In the order (view), Judge Steven C. Tolliver found that the zoning hearing board did not make an error when it decided to not grant the special excpetion to allow the apartments. From the order:

Upon review of the record adduced throughout several hearings held before the Board, this Court determined that the Board’s findings of fact are supported by substatial evidence and the conclusions of law made by the Board do not reflect that the Board committed any error of law. Accordinly, this Court affirms the decision of the Board and denies the appeal of Appellant.

When seeking the special exception from the zoning hearing board, PREIT’s attorney argued that apartments are “of the same general character” as motel/motor court and elderly/assisted living facilities, which are allowed in the zoning district that encompasses the mall.

In the order, the court outlined the evidence presented to the zoning hearing board that drove their decision to deny the special exception.

PREIT can now pursure an appeal of this decision to the Commonwealth Court, the state’s second highest court.

Image: PREIT