Newtown Township Reaches Settlement With Arcadia

NEWTOWN, PA — The Newtown Township Board of Supervisors has reached a settlement agreement with Arcadia Land Development, paving the way for the Philadelphia-based developer to construct 60 homes in the township.

The board voted 4-1 Wednesday to approve the agreement, with Supervisor Kyle Davis casting the dissenting vote, ending a three-year legal battle between the township and the developer.

The project first came before the township in 2017, at which time supervisors rejected the developer's proposal to build 76 homes on 22 acres of land off the Newtown Bypass at Buck Road after hearing concerns from neighbors about traffic, safety and open space preservation. When Arcadia came back with a revised plan in 2018, supervisors again rejected it.

That led to the developer filing an appeal in late December of 2019 in which Arcadia attorney John VanLuvanee argued that his client failed to receive a signed copy of township supervisors' rejection of the project. Township solicitor Dave Sander would later tell the Bucks County Courier Times that Arcadia was using "obscure technicalities" to try to overturn the board's decision and that the township would fight the appeal in court.

But the legal battle proved to be costly for the township, and supervisors ultimately decided to settle with the developer.

"The option that we have here is probably the best option," board chairman Phil Calabro said.

The 22-acre property is neighbored by the Newtown Crossing and Eagle Ridge developments, and residents there expressed their disappointment with the board's vote, with some calling for Sander's resignation.

"The fact that this got passed on a technicality that was due to human error is horrible, and in a corporate world the solicitor would have been terminated immediately for this type of mistake," Newtown Township resident Kathryn Dettra said. "What this says to the residents of our township is that money and who can afford the best lawyer comes before our safety and well-being."

As part of the revised settlement agreement, Arcadia has agreed to construct 60 single-family detached homes valued at around $700,000 each, which is down slightly from the original proposal of 76 homes.

The developer has also agreed to create an alternative access road for construction vehicles that would serve to divert traffic from the Buck Road and Mill Pond Road intersection.

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