Hatfield Borough Revitalization Plan and Market Study Inventory And Analysis Of Existing Conditions

Summary of Findings

Survey research indicates that the commercial and residential conditions in the Borough need to be improved. The Borough's advantages include a small town atmosphere and good location and access. Improved traffic flow, a larger variety of stores, and more off-street parking are the changes needed to improve shopping conditions in the Borough. Commercial development efforts should target the South Main, East Lincoln, Market, and East Broad street areas. The actions most needed to improve overall conditions in the Borough include the reuse of old sites/buildings, new traffic patterns, more stores, more parking, and facade and streetscape improvements. The primary public safety issue involves improved vehicular traffic control.

Community Assets and Physical Features

An evaluation of the Borough's assets and physical attributes was completed as part of the Revitalization Plan and Market Study.

Land Use Patterns

The mixed-use, residential-commercial configuration of the Borough promotes a quaint, small town atmosphere. The Central Business District (CBD) is a nonlinear configuration spread out over a large area. The unusual layout of the CBD does not allow for a sense of commercial grouping or retail concentration consistent with providing convenient 'one-stop' shopping opportunities or reasonable pedestrian access. New commercial development opportunities should generally be targeted for the CBD area. Current zoning in the CBD will generally accommodate most anticipated development uses.

Business Community

The Borough=s business mix is limited in terms of enterprises with national brand name recognition. A Dairy Queen store and 7-11 convenience store represent the only national brand enterprises within the Borough. The Borough does not have a core of comparable or complementary enterprises that would generally draw large numbers of primary destination customers from a broad geographic area. The Borough does have a few individual commercial enterprises that generate primary destination traffic. Most of the commercial establishments in the Borough serve persons living in the Borough or persons from communities in close proximity to the Borough. Borough businesses face a high level of competition from local shopping centers containing a large variety of stores.

Primary Trade Area

The extent of the Primary Trade Area for Hatfield Borough is the area defined as Hatfield Borough, Hatfield Township and the Route 309 corridor along the outer perimeter of Hatfield Township just inside the Bucks County line. The trade area definition is consistent with shopping patterns as determined by survey research. The nature of the Borough's existing commercial business mix does not support an expansive trade area. A more expansive trade area would need to be supported by commercial establishments portraying national brand images or a core of similar stores generating the necessary gravity to attract primary destination customers.

Existing Features Impacting Development Opportunities

The Borough's image portrays a quaint, small town environment. Vehicular access to the Borough is very good. PA Route 463 traverses through the Borough and provides convenient access to PA routes 63 and 309. The Borough is also located very close to the PA Turnpike's Northeast Extension.

The excellent road system attracts high levels of heavy truck traffic. The inordinate amount of heavy truck traffic creates noise and soot pollution, congestion, safety concerns, and visual distractions to an otherwise attractive small town atmosphere. The travel speed and size of these trucks act to create safety hazards for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Two rail lines, and the Neshaminy Creek traverse the Borough, creating physical and visual barriers to both pedestrian and vehicular travel. The reintroduction of commuter rail services would create a beneficial impact from the rail lines, helping offset any adverse physical and visual impacts associated with the rail lines.

The business community indicates that more off-street parking, improved traffic flow, and a larger variety of stores are high priority development initiatives for improving shopping conditions in the Borough. Businesses also identify the reuse of old sites/buildings and facade investment as other key development needs.

An evaluation of the current parking capacity indicates that on-street parking is generally adequate for the present level of commerce and should not be viewed as a major development issue. Survey research indicates that the need for more off-street parking is viewed as a development priority. There is no public parking area serving the CBD. All of the existing off-street parking is provided by private businesses for their customers. Given the high volume of truck and commuter traffic traversing the CBD and impacting on-street parking desirability, accommodations for convenient and accessible off-street parking need to be made. In addition, planned future commercial development activities in the CBD will certainly require convenient access to off-street parking venues.

Competitive Environment

The Borough receives very little benefit from the present level of vehicular traffic as the vehicular traffic is generally commuting through the Borough. The Borough is surrounded by shopping centers housing major sources of competition for the Borough's retail and service businesses. The main sources of primary competition are located at Ralph's Corner along Route 463, the Hilltown Crossings Plaza (Wal-Mart) along Route 309, Snyder Square along Cowpath Road, and commercial activity located along Route 309. The Borough's proximity to major shopping centers guarantees that a large mass of shoppers will be near the Borough's perimeter every day. The Borough's convenient location lends support to development strategies designed to pull shoppers from the Borough=s perimeter to the CBD by creating reasons for "driving to" the Borough. The CBD's current physical appearance and limited shopping opportunities inhibit efforts to capture a significant amount of vehicular traffic. The primary challenge remains one of capturing more of the existing vehicular traffic commuting through the Borough.

Heritage Assets

The Borough has an inventory of properties with historic architecture. Based on a survey conducted in 1986, 15 historic significant properties were identified. The inventory of old 19th century homes provides the Borough with a quaint, historic profile, and may provide opportunities for heritage walking tours and other heritage events. The railroad and Cowpath Road (Welsh cattle drives) have stories to tell in the development of the Borough. To date, no heritage assets have been developed to create a primary or secondary destination for heritage tourism visitors. Opportunities exist to develop heritage venues as theme restaurants or museum-type attractions. The development of heritage tourism assets would generate primary and secondary visitors, expanding the potential customer base for both existing and new commercial businesses located in the Borough.

Two major hurdles exist to developing heritage assets as commercial ventures: (1) the community gives a low priority to heritage tourism development activities relative to other development initiatives and (2) heritage asset development would require a significant level of financial investment to effectively develop and promote in a very competitive heritage venue environment.

Inventory of Unused or Underdeveloped Properties and Sites

The Borough layout reflects a high-density, residential community with several mixed-use areas involving residential, commercial, and industrial uses. The Borough no longer has large parcels of vacant land to develop. The last large vacant parcel within the Borough is being developed as an upscale, residential townhouse development. Any additional large-scale vacant land development would need to make use of areas designated as recreational green space.

The Borough currently has a number of unused or underutilized properties. Viable targets for future development project consideration include: (1) adaptive reuse options involving the old fire station and other vacant structures in the Core Area of the CBD, (2) the vacant parcel in front of Borough Hall now designated as open space, (3) the Borough-leased vacant lot at Market and Fretz streets, and (4) the conversion of some of the residential housing stock in the CBD to commercial uses.

The Borough has a system of parks. The parks have not been developed with commercial opportunities in mind. The parks could be used to support festivals or other gatherings, and outdoor commercial activities such as swap meets, farmers' market, heritage re-creation events, and antique shows. To date, little ongoing commercial benefit has been derived from the existing park system.