Plymouth Township’s Council held its regular meeting tonight and approximately 125-150 people attended due to the issue of a proposed crematorium on Walton Road. The meeting was pretty much a civics lesson on local government because the issue isn’t before the Council, but the Zoning Hearing Board. Members of council took the time to explain how the process works and a few people asked questions and gave statements.

After listening to the residents speak, and after being part of a conversation after the meeting, there are a couple things that are pretty apparent. The group of citizens is not educated well enough on how local government works and they are not organized into a cohesive group.

We hate suggesting this, but this group opposing the crematorium needs a lawyer. The most eligible residents and business owners also need to prepare to request to be protestants at the Zoning Hearing Board. Being a protestant allows you to question and present witnesses, not just give a public comment for two minutes.

One thing that did come out of the meeting was that Plymouth’s Council does not support the crematorium. They plan to send a solicitor to the Zoning Hearing and are also researching where to potentially allow a crematorium within the zoning of the township. One member of council shared that it is likely on Conshohocken Road.

There was also a question as to whether local municipalities can create stricter environmental laws than state and federal governments. Council agree to look into this and act if it was possible.

If you want to see how this process works, we suggest attending the upcoming Zoning Hearing Board meeting in Conshohocken involving the proposed convenience store and gas station. The hearing on this issue involves the municipality having its solicitor there and the protestants having their own attorney. The next one is January 29th at 7:00 p.m. at Old Borough Hall at West 8th and Fayette.

This issue will be before Plymouth’s Zoning Hearing Board in February. It was supposed to be this month, but has been pushed back at the request of the applicant.