Land Use Plan

Redevelopment activities in the Downtown District Redevelopment Area are intended to meet the following goals and objectives:

• Strengthen retail activity in the downtown area;
• Enliven the downtown through expanded retail, housing, and office space;
• Alleviate the deterioration of Baltimore Avenue;
• Upgrade properties with unsafe physical conditions and ones that are regarded as public nuisances;
• Create more effective circulation patterns for vehicles and pedestrians; and
• Improve the physical environment through infrastructure and streetscape enhancements.

Existing uses within this Redevelopment Area are shown on Exhibit B. In general, land uses fronting Baltimore Avenue and Lansdowne Avenue are more commercial in nature, while those along the side streets adjacent to Baltimore and Lansdowne Avenues are more residential in nature. Land uses along Lansdowne Avenue contain a mixture of retail, office, health and finance services, and mixed-use buildings with residential units and offices on the upper floors.

The only public open space in the Downtown District is at the corner Lansdowne and Baltimore Avenues. One apartment building and a senior housing complex occupy the northern end of Lansdowne Avenue. There are also three churches on North Lansdowne Avenue, and the public library is just within the Redevelopment Area at the corner of Lansdowne and Nyack Avenues.

Baltimore Avenue has a mix of commercial and industrial uses, as well as some apartment buildings and vacant buildings and lots. In addition to general retail uses, there are used car lots, auto mechanics, warehouses, commercial services, and an office building.
Again, the lands along the side streets adjacent to Baltimore and Lansdowne Avenues are primarily single-family residential, with only the occasional apartment building.
The Downtown District also contains one historically designated structure, the Lansdowne Theater, which is shown in Exhibit B-1.

The proposed Land Use Plan is shown on Exhibit C (below). Land uses are proposed to remain the same except where noted:

1. The Lansdowne Shopping Center at 24 W. Baltimore Avenue is currently a marginally used retail strip center that is likely to experience greater vacancy as stores relocate in search for more modern space. In addition, the office building in this center is only partially occupied. The retail center is proposed for reuse as a three story mixed-use building with retail on the ground floor and apartment units on the two upper floors. A new public plaza is proposed for a portion of the site fronting on Baltimore Avenue; and the existing, partially occupied office building is proposed to be used as a mixed-use office and residential building.
2. The vacant “old bank building,” as it is known, at 2 S. Lansdowne Avenue is proposed for reuse as a commercial building.
3. The Lansdowne Plaza at 3 N. Lansdowne Avenue is proposed for reuse as a mixed-use building, with retail on the ground floor and apartments above. Parking would be moved behind the building and public open space would occupy the corner of Lansdowne and Baltimore Avenues.
4. The vacant former 7-Eleven at 7 E. Baltimore Avenue and the municipal parking lot, which is underutilized, is proposed for reuse as a commercial retail complex with public open space and municipal parking.
5. The vacant and underutilized buildings from 16-26 S. Highland Avenue and 29 Madison Avenue and the vacant lot at 27 Madison Avenue are recommended for reuse as an apartment building.
6. The land use on the south side of Baltimore Avenue between Highland and Wycombe Avenues is proposed to change from commercial and light industrial to mixed-use and residential.
7. The vacant building at 55 E. Baltimore and the auto lot and repair service at 59 E. Baltimore Avenue forming the northwest corner of Baltimore and Wycombe Avenues is proposed for reuse as mixed-use, with retail or office on the ground floor and residential on the upper floors.
8. The dry cleaner and vacant funeral home at 61 and 65 E. Baltimore Avenue at the corner of Wycombe Avenue are proposed for reuse as mixed-use, with retail on the ground floor and residential on the upper floors.
9. The auto lot on 100-102 E. Baltimore Avenue is proposed to change from auto sales to office or retail.
10. The land use along Baltimore Avenue bounded by S. Maple Avenue, Union Avenue, and the SEPTA tracks is recommended for reuse as retail, office, or light industrial.
11. The auto body shop at the corner of Union Avenue and La Crosse Avenue is in poor condition. Under this redevelopment plan, this site is proposed to be reused as office or retail.
12. The land south of the SEPTA tracks on Union Avenue known as the “EPA site” is currently vacant and is proposed to be reused as light industrial or commercial.