Land clearing draws violation notice
NEW HANOVER >> A developer’s clearing of more than 25 acres of land for a project that has not yet received township approval has generated a notice of violation, and more may be on the way.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection inspected the site Aug. 26 and found that land had been cleared by developers R.P. Wynestone LP.
Nearby Minister Creek and its tributaries could have been polluted with sediment because adequate erosion controls had not been installed prior to the clearing, the DEP inspector found.
According to David Leh, the township’s engineer, 26 acres of the site were cleared, a half-acre of which was outside the limits of a permit issued under a preliminary site plan approved in 2005.
When DEP inspectors returned on Sept. 4, workers were “actively installing” erosion control measures at the site, according to a DEP report on file with the township.
The situation is very unusual, said Township Manager Jamie Gwynn, and is creating tension between the township and the developer.
“They have an (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permit which allows certain
things, like grading based on an older plan,” Gwynn said. “This is very rare, I’ve never seen it before.”
The project in question is called New Hanover Town Center. It is proposed on 209 acres where the old New Hanover Airport was located. If approved, the project would add more than 700 homes and 171,000 square feet of commercial space along Swamp Pike.
The proposed project has been revised several times since 2017 and it currently calls for 734 homes. The current revision has that as 189 single family homes; 290 townhomes; 103 “atrium” homes; 94 twin homes; two mixed use buildings with 14 dwellings and a multiplex building with an additional 89 dwelling units included.
The plan also calls for 13 non-residential buildings that add up to 171,310 square feet, down from 209,110 square feet.
The potential traffic the project could generate has spurred expressions of concern from officials in both New Hanover and Douglass (Mont.) townships as far back as 2015.
It is also a concern for residents, many of whom showed up for Thursday’s supervisors meeting because the project was on the agenda for discussion.
But there was an audible exclamation from the crowd when supervisors’ Chairman Charles D. Garner Jr. announced that, at the developer’s request, the matter was pulled from the night’s agenda.
That does not mean the project was not discussed.
That’s when Leh informed the supervisors, and the crowd, about the land clearing.
Leh said the township inspected the work and a Notice of Violation was issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
The Montgomery County Conservation District, which oversees erosion control plans, also got involved and ordered some measures be taken to mitigate the potential damage from the clearing.
Leh said the work required by the conservation district was undertaken and the notice of violation may be revoked, although Gwynn said Friday he has yet to see any written evidence of the revocation.
The developers have said they now intend to seek a township grading permit to continue the work, said Leh.
Just like soil stockpiling and tree removal that was undertaken in March, this work was done under the legal umbrella of the 2005 preliminary site plan approval, said Township Solicitor Andrew Bellwoar.
The grading permit will supposedly be used to construct stormwater basins on the site, that are legally “unrelated” to the eventual development.
Bellwoar told the supervisors that he warned the developers “any work done there is at developer’s risk and if the final site plan approved differs in terms of the storm basins they are now installing, they will have to re do it.”
“Acres of trees were removed and acres of ground were disturbed,” he said.
Garner said “I know they are the property owners and they have certain rights,” but he thought the township had an ordinance that would prevent clear cutting of trees or land on that scale without review and a permit from township.
If the township ordinances do not contain such provisions, perhaps it’s time to change the law so that such review would be required, he said.
Gwynn said Friday that the town does have a “tree preservation ordinance,” and that he and Bellwoar “are still reviewing it to see if there was a violation here.”
The item that was supposed to be discussed at Thursday night’s meeting had to do with whether the township would take dedication of the roads within the development once construction is complete. Garner noted that request is contrary to the proposal in previous documents that indicated they will be private roads.
Even more complicated matters are set to be discussed at the October meeting according to Gwynn.
Garner suggested adding the matter of road dedication threatens to make the meeting unwieldy and could cause further delays.
He said the Town Center developers, with the clear-cutting, “may be acting within the law, but it seems like they’re not acting in good faith with us, the way they ask us to act in good faith with them.”
Gwynn said Friday “they do seem to keep looking for loopholes.”
Resident Rusty Oister had a stronger reaction telling the board “it’s begun.”