Board approves Prospect Avenue subdivision
5 new homes part of plan approved unanimously
UPPER GWYNEDD >> Plans for a proposed five-lot subdivision on Prospect Avenue in Upper Gwynedd have gotten the go-ahead.
The township’s commissioners approved the subdivision request Jan. 27, after last-minute discussions on whether the new neighborhood should be overseen by a homeowners’ association.
“The applicant was proposing going with a unilateral declaration but understood that the board was interested in the HOA action,” said township Manager Sandra Brookley Zadell.
‘The board voted unanimously and thought the HOA gave the most protection to the township,” she said.
Since late 2018, developer Deluca Homes has been seeking approvals for the plan, which would build five new houses on a 3.35-acre parcel at West Prospect and Fairview avenues, just across Prospect from Pennsylvania Avenue and the St. Rose of Lima Church, according to Zadell and plan documents posted publicly by the township.
Those plans were vetted throughout 2019 by the township planning commission and internal Plan Review Committee, with the last outstanding issue being whether the applicant could declare in writing the stormwater maintenance responsibilities for each lot, with the unilateral declaration, or whether a formal homeowners’ association should do so.
During the internal vetting process, the applicant made the case that the HOA would be too costly because the subdivision only contains five houses and would add an extra cost to the development that may deter some potential homeowners.
The township’s plan review committee said its concern was that the new homeowners would not be fully aware of their maintenance responsibilities under the declaration, while an HOA would collect dues and write bylaws to ensure funding would be available and maintenance covered.
The board voted unanimously for the HOA option, according to Zadell, to require that the HOA clearly have responsibility for any stormwater management issues and that it be in place to notify any new homeowners of its role.
Those stormwater requirements drew the most discussion during the board’s Jan. 27 action meeting, according to the manager: one resident who currently lives near the property shared concerns about the existing stormwater runoff in the area, which were addressed by the engineers for the township and for the developer.
Review letters included with the approval for the project spell out a long list of terms and conditions, including requirements that the developer place a deed restriction prohibiting construction of any structure in the wetland area of the first lot, that they pay a fee to the township in lieu of meeting open space requirements, that lights be provided along the driveway near the sidewalk of each lot and an additional fee for planting a total of 47 trees elsewhere in the township that will not fit on that lot.
Details of the land development application are included in the board’s meeting materials packet for Jan. 27.
Upper Gwynedd’s commissioners next meet at 7 p.m. Feb. 10 at the township administration building, 1 Parkside Place; for more information visit www.UpperGwynedd.org.