Hatfield board gives informal go-ahead for townhouse plans
HATFIELD — It’s not a formal approval, and plans could still change, but the proposal to build 65 townhouses and twins at the intersection of Cowpath and Lenhart roads took a big step forward Wednesday night.
Three of Hatfield’s five commissioners gave their assent for resident Sal Moscariello and attorney Joe Kuhls to further refine the latest version of plans the board had rejected in November.
“Three of us are saying that it’s not objectionable, and we are willing to have you go through planning and zoning (processes), have the conversation with them, go through that process, and you have a right to a rezoning hearing in May,” said commissioners President Tom Zipfel.
At issue are plans - several sets of plans - presented to the board over the past several months for possible proj- ects on an eight-acre parcel at Cowpath and Lenhart. Moscariello and Kuhls originally presented plans to build a total of 70 townhomes and a 108-space parking lot near the railroad tracks running through that site, plans which would have required the property to be rezoned and which the board voted to reject in November. The two presented an alternative plan for a 300-bed nursing facility - allowed by-right without any rezoning - or a downsized townhouse plan earlier this month, and the commissioners and residents discussed at length which plans they’d prefer to see become a reality, and whether they’d prefer the townhouse plans be vetted by the township’s Planning and Zoning committee or the byright nursing facility that would need fewer permissions.
“Right now, you have an eight-acre unimproved parcel in a high traffic area that is not going to remain unim- proved,” said Kuhls.
Traffic study data project that the downsized townhouse and twin complex would create roughly 443 average weekday trips of traffic from that parcel, when compared to an estimated 920 average weekday - and Moscariello would contribute a traffic signal worth roughly $250,000 at that intersection if the townhouse plans are approved, but not the commercial building, he and Kuhls told the board.
“What we’re offering you is the possibility of half the traffic of what is permitted today, and a traffic light. That, to me, is quite a solution to an existing problem,” he said.
Final design details and engineering would still be worked out through the land development process in consultation with township staff and consultants, but the applicant and the board have been sparring over the proposal for months - whether the zoning change for the townhous- es would be less objectionable than the nursing facility that could generate more traffic and be built with fewer public improvements.
“Usually a developer brings the ugly plan first, they say ‘Here is my ugly plan, here is my nursing home facility,’ get everybody all riled up, and then say ‘This is what I was thinking about,’” commissioner Gerry Andris said.
“The unfortunate part is Sal recognized this wasn’t a good idea, to put a nursing home on. He came in with what he thought would make the most sense,” Andris said, and when compared to the nursing facility he said he’d rather see the townhouse plan.
Commissioner Robert Rodgers said he thought the applicants were “getting a little bit closer; I don’t think you’re there yet, and I don’t want to lead you on” before the approval process, so he cast an informal vote against the townhouse plan.
Commissioner Scott Brown also cast an informal vote against, saying he did so “under the caveat that I can learn and change my mind by the time we get to the target date (for final approval), if there’s going to be one.”
Zipfel and commissioner Larry Hughes both gave their assent to moving ahead with the land development process, and emphasized that a no vote on the townhouse plans would guarantee that the nursing clinic would be built with little input from township residents, consultants or the board.
“If we give them a hearing, OK, they come back in front of planning and zoning and we get to tweak that plan to where we like it. If you don’t give them a hearing, you don’t get to tweak that plan,” Hughes said.
Hatfield’s Planning and Zoning committee next meets at 9 a.m. on March 24 and the township commissioners next meet at 7:30 p.m. on March 12, both at the township administration building, 1950 School Road. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www. HatfieldTownship.org or follow @HatfieldPA on Twitter.
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