Philadelphia-based Arcadia at Newtown Holdings had signaled in two legal notices and a December zoning appeal it was considering its proposed 76-home community “deemed approved,” even though supervisors were unanimous in denying the project in mid-November.
The crux of the developer’s contention was that the board’s decision documents were not certified, and supervisors had not signed a copy sent to Arcadia before Nov. 25, when a 60-day window for tentative approval of planned residential developments expired.
But the supervisors have stood by their decision and on Friday appealed Arcadia’s notices stating the project’s “deemed approval,” requesting a county judge’s order affirming that the proposed 23 single-family detached homes and 53 townhomes off Buck Road and the Newtown Bypass are not approved.
In the appeal, township Solicitor David Sander said he sent Arcadia attorney John VanLuvanee the decision documents, outlining the supervisors’ findings and conclusions following project hearings, on Nov. 24, the same day as Micah Lewis, the township’s manager and custodian of records, certified the decision.
Though Sander sent VanLuvanee identical documents bearing the supervisors’ signatures in mid-December, at the Arcadia attorney’s request, the township solicitor said his Nov. 24 email, in tandem with each supervisor’s verbal denial of the project at a Nov. 14 meeting, met the applicable requirements of the municipal planning code.
Arcadia has submitted to Newtown Township, and received denials on three configurations for “Arcadia Green” homes through the tentative planned residential development process since 2015.
[Read “Arcadia Green PRD Three Peat: Denied Again!” which was posted on November 15, 2019.]
Officials denied the latest version of the plans because of the “extremely deleterious impact” they believed it would have on residents in neighboring communities as well as “dangerous traffic conditions,” including potential lane crossing and illegal turn issues, they said could arise from proposed traffic changes, per decision documents.
Your new post is loading...
At the November 14, 2019 BOS meeting, I said: “After listening to all the testimony, reading the reports of experts, and listening to residents of surrounding communities, I will vote to deny the current Arcadia PRD because I think it would be unsafe for residents of that development – should it go forward – to exit and enter the development. Also, let’s not forget the additional traffic it would bring to the intersection of Buck Road and the Bypass. Lastly, the plan for a U-turn to allow access to the Bypass is totally impractical, unsafe, and will cause major delays in my opinion, which seems to also be the opinion of PennDOT and other experts.”