Mayor Michelle Arnold discusses the future of the borough
Stephen Finn
The Sun
Palmyra Mayor Michelle Arnold for years has had her eyes on the borough’s future as a town ripe for redevelopment, particularly on the section of Route 73 South that runs parallel to the town and connects with the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge.
“One-third of the entire footprint of Palmyra is undeveloped, so there are so many opportunities over there,” said Arnold. “When I talk to people about the land that’s available over there, and I say, ‘Can you imagine main arteries of transportation, the accessibility to the bridge, the waterway right there on the Delaware River, sunsets over the city of Philadelphia?’ everybody wants to sign up and they want to live there too.”
According to Arnold, these are the visions they would like to project for the area.
“Of course there are a lot of complications over there, but we are well positioned and that’s what we’ve been working towards over the past several years. Positioning the borough to be in a strong situation where we can take control of that property, we can clean it up, we can redevelop it,” said Arnold.
The mayor believes developing this section of Route 73 South will help drive new businesses to the area as a whole in the long term. The more that opportunities in Palmyra are advertised, the more focus and attention will come to local businesses and vacant properties available to developers.
As far as developing the downtown area in the short term, Arnold will be reaching out to nearby towns like Riverton and Cinnaminson about how they can collaborate to drive business for everyone.
“We don’t have that main corridor of Route 130 where all of the big box stores want to be. What if someone shopping at one of those big stores wants to have a unique gift or unique dining experience? They can come to Palmyra for that,” said Arnold.
Arnold would like to see collaboration between Palmyra’s and Cinnaminson’s business districts where both towns advertise what the overall area has to offer.
When it comes to the neighboring town of Riverton, Arnold says she has had conversations with Assemblywoman Carol Murphy and they are looking to develop a riverfront corridor incorporating the light rail to promote river towns like Riverton, Delanco and Beverly and their unique shopping experiences.
Local infrastructure projects have been slowing as temperatures drop, making asphalt work more difficult. According to Arnold, a number of road projects will have to wait until spring before they are completed.
One of the main projects that will see completion in the new year will be improvements to Temple Boulevard in the form of a drainage system to address flooding at the intersection of Temple, Firth and 2nd Avenue. A $250,000 Municipal Aid Grant from the state was awarded for the project, and the borough has been pursuing a number of additional grants to offset costs.
The mayor would also like to pursue improvements to Palmyra’s latest park area, the riverfront Promenade Park. As a phase two for the park there have been talks about adding a walkway cut into the hill leading to the park that will make for easier access coming and going to the park’s seating areas.
Going forward, Arnold would like to get more input and feedback from the business community.
“As it stands now, we don’t have a collaborative business group,” said Arnold. “I think that’s something that needs to be resurrected.”
Arnold also plans to launch initiatives aimed at encouraging community involvement decisions made by the council.
“I will be soliciting input and ideas from the community and those ideas will be formulated and presented to the council. We want to get the community’s input on things we’re thinking about doing and what their needs and desires are. I think if we do that then we won’t have need for more referendums,” said Arnold.
According to Arnold, she believes some of the struggles of the last year stem from the idea that Palmyra is changing and losing its identity. Some longtime residents seem uncomfortable with the number of new developments the borough has seen.
“If we can give everyone the confidence that we are going to stick to our goals and we are going to honor our past while we’re going into the future, I think that would be a perfect combination,” said Arnold.
