Doylestown Township’s planning commission Monday unanimously supported plans for a zoning change for a development that includes affordable senior housing and market-rate townhouses.
The “multi-generational” project at 280 N. Broad St. now moves to the board of supervisors tonight, where approval is expected.
“We are delighted that the planning commission has unanimously supported this proposed zoning change,” said Jason Duckworth, owner of Philadelphia-based Arcadia Land Development, which is heading up the project.
However, Doylestown Borough officials, who voiced strong objections to the planning process, expressed displeasure with the recommendation.
“We remain incredibly disappointed in how this process has unfolded,” said John Davis, the borough’s manager, in an email. “It represents an extremely poor example of intermunicipal planning, or in this case, a lack thereof. While we are proponents of affordable housing and hope that this development eventually fulfills its promises in that regard, it’s worth noting that providing for it is much easier when it is for all intents and purposes in someone else’s community.”
Plans call for 60, age-restricted, one-bedroom apartments in a four-story building on the three-acre portion of the site in the township. Rents, said Duckworth, will be about $1,100 monthly, for those earning approximately $47,000 annually. The rent can be adjusted downward, based on income, he noted, in an interview.
Development of the senior piece of the project, which will also be marketed to veterans, is receiving tax credits from the Pennsylvania Finance Agency, said Duckworth. Pennrose Brick and Mortar, a firm that specializes in senior housing developments, will oversee that aspect of the plan.
The 18 townhouses will be sold at market-rate and built by Arcadia.
A new proposal shows the approximately one-acre piece of the property in the borough, former home to Tilley’s Fire Equipment business, as a public dog park that would be owned and maintained by the borough.
Phil Ehlinger, the borough’s deputy manager, said he liked the dog park concept. Not adding housing to the one-acre parcel, he said, at the meeting, “will mitigate almost 300 trips…” and will offset tremendously the impact on the borough from that property.”
To accommodate the project, the township had to modify its limited industrial zoning, adding a residential use. The change, developers and township officials stressed, is specific to the three-acre site, as any future housing project would have to meet a “walkability” standard. That standard is defined as being within a half-mile of the center of the borough, the intersection of State and Main streets, said Jen Herring, a Doylestown Township supervisor.
“Everybody’s concerned about traffic on Broad Street,” said Herring. “There’s been a lot of discussion to clear up some of the concerns…and defining what ‘walkability’ is specifically in the ordinance should help allay some of those traffic concerns,” as well as the worry that other parts of the township’s LI zoning could be developed for housing.
Three years ago, Arcadia proposed 220 luxury apartments on the property that spans the township and borough.
Considering that, Davis said, “our planning and legal team has done a remarkable job making the best of a bad situation.”
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
