MALVERN TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT STUDY Borough of Malvern in cooperation with Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission Chester County Planning Commission Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority prepared by Whitman, Requardt & Associates, LLP in association with Vantage Point Development Advisors, LLC Thomas Comitta Associates, Inc. Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc. DECEMBER 2013 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The project team would like to thank the members of the Study Advisory Committee for their contributions to the study. Sandra Kelley, Manager, Malvern Borough Woody Van Sciver, President, Malvern Borough Council Andrew Svekla, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission Justin A. Smiley, Chester County Planning Commission Byron S. Comati, Director of Strategic Planning and Analysis, SEPTA Malvern Transit Oriented Development Study CONTENTS Executive summary ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Public involvement .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Train service and ridership ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Train service and schedule .............................................................................................................................. 5 Train station ridership ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Rider survey ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 Parking ......................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Train station parking ...................................................................................................................................... 11 Municipal lot parking ..................................................................................................................................... 12 On‐street parking .......................................................................................................................................... 13 Parking conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 16 Transportation assessment ......................................................................................................................................... 17 King Street ..................................................................................................................................................... 17 Malvern station ............................................................................................................................................. 17 Pedestrian access .......................................................................................................................................... 18 Truck traffic ................................................................................................................................................... 20 Development traffic ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Transportation assessment conclusions ........................................................................................................ 22 Market study ............................................................................................................................................................... 23 Residential ..................................................................................................................................................... 23 Retail .............................................................................................................................................................. 23 Office ............................................................................................................................................................. 23 Market study conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 23 Alternative concepts .................................................................................................................................................... 25 TOD Concept Plans ........................................................................................................................................ 25 Funding .......................................................................................................................................................... 30 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................................. 32 Page i Malvern Transit Oriented Development Study FIGURES 1 Study area ............................................................................................................................................................... 3 2 Malvern station boardings and alightings by train time (2011) ............................................................................. 6 3 Mode of travel to Malvern station ......................................................................................................................... 7 4 Survey response on difficulty of finding parking in SEPTA lot ................................................................................ 8 5 Weekday occupancy of SEPTA parking lots at Malvern station ........................................................................... 11 6 Weekday occupancy of municipal parking lots .................................................................................................... 13 7 Station area on‐street weekday parking occupancy ............................................................................................ 15 8 Total peak hour traffic volume at the intersection of King Street and Warren Avenue ...................................... 22 9 Four‐level development alternative ..................................................................................................................... 27 10 Stepped‐height development alternative ............................................................................................................ 28 11 Concentrated development alternative ............................................................................................................... 29 TABLES 1 ZIP code of residence of SEPTA riders at Malvern station ...................................................................................... 7 2 Uses SEPTA riders would like in proximity to Malvern station ............................................................................... 9 3 On‐street parking regulations .............................................................................................................................. 14 4 Malvern station trip generation ........................................................................................................................... 17 5 Malvern station peak hour trip distribution ......................................................................................................... 18 6 Total peak hour trips generated by residential apartment development of different sizes ................................ 21 7 Borough of Malvern population and housing with alternative development scenarios ...................................... 30 APPENDICES Public workshop #2 survey tabulation King Street infill development guidelines Model TOD Overlay District provisions The market demand study is available in a separate document. Page ii Malvern Transit Oriented Development Study EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Borough of Malvern received a local match grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) to conduct a study of transit oriented development (TOD) opportunities in the area of the Malvern train station. A TOD is defined as a compact, mixed‐use, pedestrian‐friendly development surrounding a transit station. The Borough was motivated to study TOD because of its potential benefits. A TOD could: . reinforce the Borough’s vitality . allow the Borough to proactively shape redevelopment, or limit redevelopment . provide Incremental tax income to support infrastructure improvements . take trucks off the streets, if a new access is built as a result . improve pedestrian access to the north side of the tracks . add parking, if a garage is built as a result . increase land and home values . better utilize the valuable transportation asset of the train station The study was conducted over a one‐year time frame from fall 2012 to fall 2013. The study received guidance from five meetings of a Study Advisory Committee (SAC) comprised of DVRPC, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority