Board punts on apartment decision
51-unit Crossroads projects wants to build apartments instead of townhomes
The school board took up the question of allowing a controversial 51-unit development in neighboring Upper Pottsgrove to be built as apartments instead of townhomes Tuesday — but made no decision.
The development, called Crossroads, has a long and complicated legal history.
The short version is that 10 years ago, Upper Pottsgrove Township and the Pottsgrove School District settled a lawsuit challenging the township’s zoning ordinance, by agreeing to allow the construction of 51 townhomes off Moyer Road on the east side of Route 100.
The settlement reduced the number of possible homes from several hundred to 51.
The homes were never built because of the recession, but a new developer has taken over the project and begun the planning process to begin construction.
The developer, Delaware Valley Development Co., has asked the township for permission to build 51 apartments instead of 51 townhomes, saying it offers more flexibility and will allow for the preservation of more open space.
Whether they get permission for apartments or not, all the units will be rental units geared toward “workforce” salaries — although there appears to be some uncertainty of exactly what that salary range will be.
The commissioners have indicated their support for the change, but because the school district is also a party to the legal settlement, the school board was consulted as well.
That consultation occurred Tuesday night, when Upper Pottsgrove Township Commissioners Chairman Elwood Taylor and Bill Freeborn from Delaware Valley Development Co. appeared to explain the circumstances and answer questions.
Unlike the township commissioners meeting on Oct. 17, when two dozen or so residents of the Turnberry Farms development packed the room to protest the project, no members of the public attended the Oct. 25 school board meeting to speak on this issue.
As at the Oct. 17 meeting, the primary questions had to do with number of children it would add to the school system; impact on taxes and impact on safety.
It was Upper Pottsgrove Commissioner France Krazalkovich who answered one of the most frequently asked questions — will the project result in an increase in crime?
Krazalkovich — who previously said he would not have voted to approve the project had he been in office at the time, but bristled at the characterization that the lower-income residents would generate a spike in the crime rate — said he spoke to Upper Pottsgrove Police Chief Francis Wheatley to get his opinion.
Krazalkovich said Wheatley told him that with the stringent guidelines the developers will require of tenants — a background check and tenant contract they sign — that the police department does not expect an increase in crime once Crossroads is built.
Other frequent questions include whether the tax assessment — and thus the district’s tax revenue — would be higher if the project were built as townhomes instead of apartments.
Freeborn told school board member Al Leach, who lives in Turnberry Farms and solicited the opinions of his neighbors on the development’s Facebook page, that the tax assessment is based on the number of bedrooms.
He said whether apartments or townhomes, the number would be the same — three two-bedroom units for handicapped,. 22 two-bedroom units and 22 three-bedroom units, with the rest available for the on-site managers.
As for how many school children the project would add to the system, exact information was not available, although Freeborn said he would get the board specific national information about the difference between how school children are generated by townhomes versus apartments.
However, he said, it is his understanding there is generally little difference.
“It is a misconception of the marketplace that rentals are a greater burden on a municipality,” said Freeborn.
Ultimately, the board tabled a motion to approve the change until the Nov. 15 meeting.
Freeborn said to meet the guidelines of the project’s financing, he needs to get Crossroads underway by next April.