45 New Homes Possible At Twining Bridge, Durham Roads After Supervisors Vote Yes

NEWTOWN, PA — The Newtown Board of Supervisors voted to approve a settlement plan to develop 45 single-family homes on the parcel of land between Twining Bridge Road and Durham Road in the board meeting Wednesday night.

Called the "North Drive Plan," development company Toll Brothers proposed the new plan as a possible settlement after appealing the board's rejection of its conditional-use application to develop the All Saints Cemetery property in 2020.

The main access road to the property will now be off of North Drive at Durham Road.

The new plan responded to residents' concerns with much smaller parcels of land around the homes, meaning that they could be grouped more densely in a smaller area. With that change, the plan now adds 32 additional acres to preserve approximately 120 acres of open space, 33 additional acres to preserve approximately 108 acres of agricultural soils in the open space, and 22 additional acres of farmland to retain approximately 59 acres of active farmland.

No preserved agricultural soils will be included in the single-family home lots.

New to this proposal, almost a mile of trailway around the perimeter of the property will connect to existing trails in the area. Further, maintenance of trailway and plants in the development zone will be absorbed by Toll Brothers and the future homeowner's association, rather than by the township, under this plan.

Enhanced buffering, in the form of plants, the trail, and other not-yet-designed elements, is also planned around the perimeter of the property.

A 2.45 acre stormwater management facility, as well as another acre of stormwater management, is planned to mitigate "development or disturbance" on the property.

Residents have presented concerns about traffic in the area since the introduction of the previous plan. The Toll Brothers representative said that the traffic impact from these homes should be negligible, and that Toll Brothers will pay any future traffic impact fee.

Toll Brothers representatives said Wednesday's night that the cost to purchase one of these homes will be "very high." But board member Phillip Calabro pointed out that .5 percent of those sales will be directed back into the township's coffers; and that those six-figure salary residents will be paying school taxes.

"We're looking at a financial gain," he said.

Community members who weighed in during public comment Wednesday seemed more enthusiastic about this plan than prior iterations.

"One of the beautiful things about this area was the open land, a lot of greenery," community member Bradley Cooper said of when he first moved to Newtown. He was also concerned about the high number of deer on the road in that wooded area.

Joseph McEntee also prioritized open space, encouraging supervisors to leave the undeveloped acres as farmland rather than working on another park.

He said he thought this was the "best solution," but hoped supervisors would carefully consider the complexities of the tax impact of new development on residents.

The motion passed unanimously.

The settlement plan is available to view here. More detailed preliminary and final land development plans will come before the board for vote as the project progresses.

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