Council sees plan for former school

SOUDERTON >> The first business that will be moving into the former Souderton Area High School property in the borough will be a Dollar General store.

The building to house it is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of next year, according to information given during discussion by Souderton Borough Council at its April 5 meeting. The meeting also included conditional preliminary approval for the final phase of the redevelopment of the site, formerly known as Berkeley Court, which has been renamed Towne Gate Commons.

The overall plan for the property in the block between N. School Lane, E. Chestnut Street, County Line Road and E. Broad Street (Route 113) is for a mix of residential and commercial buildings, but to date only townhouses have been constructed — 50 in that block and another 24, by a different developer, in the former school parking lot across School Lane.

Phase 2B, which is the final phase, will itself be separated into two phases, Borough Manager Mike Coll said.

It will include additional townhouses on interior streets behind the existing townhouses on Chestnut Street and School Lane; the Dollar General and additional commercial pad sites; a restaurant; completion of Market Street between School Lane and County Line Road; reconstruction of the stone parking lot at Jesse’s Barbecue & Local Market; buildings with commercial space on the street level and residential units above; a twostory plaza with a fountain, pavilion and patio space for outdoor dining; and the enclosure of the existing silt basin, he said.

A rendering of one of the planned buildings showed commercial space on the first floor with townhouses on the second and third floors.

“Phase one would include the Dollar General store, completion of Market Street and construction of 18 town homes along Chestnut Street and the construction of the combined use building to serve as a model,” Coll said. The Jesse’s parking lot work will also be done in that phase, he said.

The final phase includes 20 townhouses, five additional commercial pad sites, a restaurant and 28 residential units built over commercial space, he said. The number of commercial units isn’t known at this time because spaces could be combined, he said. The number of commercial units will also change over time, he said.

Since County Line Road and East Broad Street are both state roads, permits are also needed from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which is requiring that the developer install a new traffic signal on Route 113 at Route 309 in Hilltown Township, Coll said.

The high school moved in 2009 to its current site on Lower Road in Franconia Township.