Oscar Hammerstein Center Zoning Hearing Tonight, Petition Gets 1,000 Signatures

The hills are alive with the sound of zoning...

Left: Oscar Hammerstein II. Photo via Wikimedia Commons. Right: Highland Farm. Photo via Highland Farm B&B website

Left: Oscar Hammerstein II. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Right: Highland Farm. Photo via Highland Farm B&B website

It’s been a little while since we last heard any significant news regarding the proposed Oscar Hammerstein II Museum and Education Center in Doylestown, a.k.a. the former home of songwriter Oscar Hammerstein II. (The hills are alive with the sound of music… Yep. He penned that one among many others.) Now, though, things look to be ramping up as the June zoning board hearing that will conclude the project’s first major hurdle to realization inches closer. The latest on the Hammerstein Center plan is that there’s a zoning hearing about it tonight that could serve to show us what to expect from the June 15th decision.

Despite the hiccup from January and an inconclusive zoning board meeting in April, tonight’s hearing is expected to include final arguments from the attorneys representing those spearheading the project and those against it. WFMZ’s Randy Kraft reports the $20 million project can only go forward if it gets “a special exception and five variances from the zoning board.” Should the Doylestown Township Zoning Hearings Board conclude in favor of Will Hammerstein, Oscar’s grandson, and his supporters, Kraft says the next step would involve submitting land development plans for review and approval by township supervisors.

Recently, the OHM Center’s Facebook page announced that an online petition to convert the Hammerstein Home/current Bed & Breakfast started by LouAnn Timochenko cleared the 1,000 signatures on Saturday.

Special thanks go out to LouAnn Timochenko. Her online petition just cleared 1,000 signatures!!!!

Posted by The Oscar Hammerstein Museum & Theater Education Center on Saturday, May 16, 2015

 

We’ll be sure to keep you posted as this potential development moves forward.

H/T: Hammerstein museum on the Bucks agenda [Philly.com]
Zoners 2 months away from deciding fate of Hammerstein theater/museum complex [WFMZ]

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