Closing a Loophole on Student Housing in Bryn Mawr

On Wednesday, March 20, a public hearing is being held about an amendment to the Bryn Mawr Village District ordinance that would solidify that student housing is only allowed by special exception in that zoning district.

The hearing takes place during the Board of Commissioner's meeting at 8 p.m. in the Lower Merion municipal building.

The action is to close an apparent loophole in the zoning that would allow by-right student housing in the district. Lower Merion's Zoning Board recently granted the student housing requests by two property owners, but that was because the township's violation notices were defective, said commissioner Scott Zelov.

The violation notes did not reference back to the section of zoning code that referred to student housing, Zelov said at Monday's meeting of the Bryn Mawr Civic Association.

He said that housing students in a residential or business district is a "distinction without a difference." Just because it is technically a business district does not mean that residents are not impacted by students living there, he said.

"This is a community that has been impacted by students... and the police record is very clear," he told a student rental property owner at the meeting. Public urination, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and vandalism "have significant impacts."