The Reading Planning Commission has recommended changes that would simplify the city’s development-plan submission process.
The commission recommend that City Council amend the city’s subdivision and land development ordinance to reduce the number of paper plans developers must provide when initially submitting projects for review.
The ordinance currently calls for as many as six paper copies. Under the proposed change, developers would submit one paper copy and an electronic version.
Planning staff said the additional copies are no longer necessary because most city departments now review plans electronically.
Additional paper copies would still be required when final plans are approved and signed.
The commission also tabled a proposed lot-line revision at 431-443 Penn St. while awaiting comments from the Berks County Planning Commission.
Shuman Development Group is seeking to divide property associated with the Fifth and Penn development into areas eligible and ineligible for the City Revitalization and Improvement Zone program, commonly known as CRIZ.
Commissioner Peter Rye, who also serves on the CRIZ Authority, said the developer plans to pursue different sources of financing for different portions of the property.
“The property needs to be divided into these two buckets,” Rye said, noting the funding sources cannot be comingled.
Alan Shuman of Shuman Development Group said he hopes the change can be completed in time to apply to have a portion of the property added to the CRIZ before the end of the year deadline.
“The biggest catch here is making sure that we get the designation to separate them so that we can move forward with the CRIZ application this year,” he said.
The buildings on the site largely were merged into single parcels when Meridian Bank developed the property in the 1980s, Shuman noted.
The commission could take up the plan again at a special meeting Oct. 20.
In other development business, the commission tabled a revised plan for property at 601 S. Ninth St., where cleanup work for a planned parking lot uncovered foundations from the former Reading Brewery.
The project originally was approved in three phases, but conditions discovered during cleanup led to changes in the design. The owner now plans to submit a revised final plan for the entire project.
A former brewery foundation also was discovered beneath East Laurel Street after subsidence caused a curb to drop. The foundation has been filled to grade, and the developer is working with the city to restore the curb before winter.
Commissioners also tabled the North Reading Plaza development at 1853 N. Third St. while work continues on a traffic impact study.
The commission recommended that council approve parking changes along West Windsor Street between Lincoln Street and Schuylkill Avenue and pave Eckert Street.
It also reaffirmed previously approved plans for the Oakbrook Community Recreation Field improvements and 108 Oley St. and recommended that 536 Johnson St. be reused as a single-family dwelling.
The commission also received an update on the city’s proposed data center ordinance. Officials said the next draft is expected to include setbacks of 500 feet between standard data centers and preservation districts and 1,000 feet for major data centers, along with provisions addressing noise, generators, utilities and other issues.
Planning consultant Jerome Skrincosky said the city hopes to send the draft to the Berks County Planning Commission for review Oct. 1 and remains on schedule for possible City Council action in December.