The Newtown Township supervisors voted unanimously to approve the conditional use application of a Chipotle Mexican Grill coming to 2930 South Eagle Road, the site of the Bank of America in the Village of Newtown West shopping center.
While the owners of the restaurant received permission to operate both an eatery and a drive-through, attorney Joe Blackburn, representing landlord Brixmore Property Group, says the company has no plan to build a drive-through at the location in Newtown.
“The E-6 component to the application, although referencing a drive-though, is not at all what is being proposed, but rather a clarification asked for in order to accommodate the expected carry-in, takeout component to the use,” said Blackburn.
The proposed eatery will be a 2,500-square-foot restaurant that would operate seven days a week from 10:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. Deliveries would be made three times a week from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. and the restaurant would employ up to 10 people on each of three shifts.
Chipotle currently operates locations in Doylestown, Warrington, Warminster and Bensalem. The eatery also has a location in Princeton.
The supervisors also voted 4-1 to grant permission to property owners Mike and Patricia D’Arcangelo to subdivide a property they own at the corner of Linton Hill and Washington Crossing roads. Supervisors Fisher, Linda Bobrin, Kyle Davis and John Mack voted in the affirmative with Chairman Phil Calabro casting the lone vote against the decision.
Calabro has concerns over the fact that not one, but two, utility pipelines including the lengthy Transcontinental natural gas pipeline that goes from Long Island, New York to Corpus Christi, Texas, cross under the property.
“I hear the word gas and it kind of sends me into a tizzie, here,” said Calabro. “What makes this development the development that should go there in regards to these two easements that are still there and have been there for a very long time?”
The D’Arcangelos have gotten permission to go forth with their plan to build two single homes on the 11.3-acre land parcel from the township’s planning commission and the zoning hearing board.
Certain waivers were needed to get the current project approved because the land is located within the conservation management zone in the township and some wooded areas on the property would have to be removed in order to build both homes.
Additionally, a driveway connecting both houses with another that would traverse both an 85-foot gas pipeline easement and another 50-foot right-of-way would be classified a private drive and not a public thoroughfare.
The D’Arcangelos had been issued a permit to subdivide the property once before – in 2003 – but that license had since expired.
The supervisors also voted unanimously to re-apply for a Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Grant, a matching funds subsidy that would help pay for a new recreation trail along Lower Dolington Road. The township applied for the same grant last year but was turned down by the state agency.
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