The Committee to start the Jenkintown Residents Civic Association is being formed which will be a non-profit, volunteer led civic association to be founded this year in 2022. Please join us! JRCA will represent the residents of Jenkintown Borough and adjacent residential streets outside the borough. JRCA’s goals are to assure residents are informed and have a voice on issues such as development, safety, zoning, transportation, and traffic. Committees will be formed for other interests as needed. Another goal of JRCA is to be formally recognized as a community organization by the Jenkintown Borough Council and be included as a preliminary step in property development zoning review. As a grass roots organization we will encourage community activism and education and communication but will not be a platform as some other civic associations have become to influence public opinion negatively toward any developer or property owner or any individual.
The JRCA will provide a forum for new and established neighbors. In our meetings we can express our concerns about everyday life in Jenkintown. We also can discuss the challenges to our residential community and to Jenkintown Borough and environs. As our community and borough grows with development, we need the support of our entire community. Please join us and help communicate
our serious concerns and possible solutions to the Borough Council and staff.
Zoning
JRCA will invite developers and property owners to public zoning meetings of the JRCA allowing our residents to interact with and provide input in connection with the zoning process. We feel this can iron out residents’ issues before going to a zoning hearing where variances are requested. We hope this can offset the imbalance of the current system which is heavy on legal zoning arguments rather than smart design and resident input. We hope in doing so we can reach residents goals and reduce misunderstandings where residents feel they need to seek party status in objection to or in hopes of modifying a project, thus increasing legal fees for all parties. We recommend at least one meeting with the developer and their architect. If there are strong suggestions and the committee and developer think a second meeting will benefit the proposal, leading to broader acceptance then a second public meeting will be scheduled prior to the zoning hearing.
Government
One of our goals is to serve as a link between residents and local government advocating for trails and bicycle paths, neighborhood safety, American with Disabilities interests, reports on Borough activities and more. Another goal is to offer testimony on bills before Borough Council, and organize public forums with elected officials and representatives from government agencies. We need volunteers who can monitor Borough Public meetings and offer e-updates which may interest the community.
All of this cannot be done without some fundraising. We will have at least one annual fundraiser and a voluntary membership fee for active and inactive members.
Communication
JRCA will attempt to provide timely information about borough events through its volunteers not available elsewhere through online updates.