Planners Talk Houses, Hotels and Traffic Studies

Photos by Evan Brandt

A look at the plan for 143 age-restricted homes proposed for 36 acres in Upper Pottsgrove off Kummerer Road.

Two major developments in the Pottsgrove School District, traffic studies on High Street and Gilbertsville and a surprise $70 million proposal in North Coventry were all fair game during last night's regional planning meeting.

That's what can happen when you put eight different municipalities in the same room, stuff happens.

We'll begin as they did, with the newest.

Age-Restricted Homes in Upper Pottsgrove

Located in between Farmington Avenue, Route 100 and Pine Ford and Kummerer roads, the "Kummerer Tract" is the 36-acre site of a proposed age-restricted development of 143 detached, one-story single family homes of 5,000 square feet.

The project is within the expansion area for the township's sewer system, said Township Commissioner Elwood Taylor who remains, for the moment, the chairman of the Upper Pottsgrove Planning Commission.

A Google Earth view of the Kummerer tract bounded by Pine Ford

Road in the south, Kummerer Road to the west, Farmington 

Avenue to the north and Route 100 to the east.

The project "is part of the township's long-term plan to provide tax revenue for the township and the school district without stressing services," he said.

The age restriction is likely to ensure few if any of the homes house students the school district must educate. In fact, said Taylor, once all phases of the project are completed, it is estimated it will generate $1.8 million in annual tax revenue for the school district.

With easy access to Route 100, the project will also have a smaller impact on local roads than those further from the main north/south road in the township, Taylor said.

Developer Bo Erixxon said the project will board "50 percent more open space than is required," as well as "multiple access points," some of which will align with the Summer's Grove neighborhood.

The homes will be one-story except for those where the property grade makes it practical to have walk-out basements, he said.

The project will feature a community center, trails and a community pool, he said.

Taylor said a historical homestead for which the tract is named will be preserved with the help of the developer.

It is also consistent with the type of project envisioned in the "secondary growth area of the regional comprehensive plan," said Taylor.

Sanatoga Green Changes

In the works for years, this massive mixed-use development has gone through some changes since it first got underway with a zoning change in 2014.

The $146 million project is a mix of office, townhome and apartment buildings located on 57 acres

The latest version of the Sanatoga Green plan shows 147 

townhomes on the left, 310 apartments in the center

and the medical office space on the right.

off Evergreen Road opposite the Costco and Limerick outlets.

The township commissioners have granted preliminary approved the first of three phases, the construction of 147 townhomes.

But there have been changes, including a reduction of housing units from a high of 490 to 457, achieved entirely by a 35-unit reduction in the number of apartments.

In addition to reducing the number from 343 to 310, the developers have also reduced the number of buildings in which those apartments will be located from 17 to five.

Another change is the removal of a planned 108-room hotel, which was to be built in the second phase along with a 50,000 square foot medical office building. Instead, the project's office space, which is the second phase, will not include 120,000 square feet of medical office space, said Montgomery County planner Marley Bice.

Traffic Studies and Then Some

The regional planners are now in possession of the final version of a $65,000 study of the region's 18 worst intersections by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, and how to improve them.

And the timing could not be better, said  John Cover, the assistant director of the Montgomery County Planning Commission.

This traffic study recommends improvements to 18 

of the region's worst intersections.

The county has instituted a $5 fee on car registrations that will help fund a $1 million pool of money for road and bridge improvement projects.

"There are a number of projects in this report that would be very competitive for that funding," Cover told the planners.

Because they would be applying as a region, and the study has already been done, chances of winning some funding would be high, particularly given that the most expensive project outlined in the study is about $65,000, said Bice.

There is a local match for the funding, but "the money is there and your residents are already paying for it, why not go for it?" said Cover. "I'd like to see some of this money go to the western part of the county."

The DVRPC's next project will be a traffic study of High Street from the Berks County line through Sanatoga, said Bice.

Traffic counts will begin shortly and the goal of the study, to be completed by June 2021, will be to beautify the street, and to improve traffic flow.

Traffic is also at the heart of a land use study by Douglass (Mont.) Township that was reviewed last night. That study, which concludes 748 new housing units will be built in the township's southern portion by 2035, will become the basis for traffic fees charged to developers.

In addition to the inclusion of the long-discussed "Market Street" project in Gilbertsville, the study also includes the development of the 236-unit Zern tract on 285 acres between Jackson Road and Route 100.

Township Manager Peter Hirkyak said the first phase of the Zern tract project, which will see the

This map shows the Zern tract project on the top right, and the
much larger Gambone commercial project below it along
Route 100. The "L" shaped road is the proposed Market Street.

construction of 72 townhomes, has already begun. Under the terms of a resolution adopted in May setting deadlines for the project, 80 more homes must be started by August of 2021; and the final 82 townhouses must begin construction by April, 2023.

Even before the new traffic impact fee schedule is set, the Zern Tract will contribute $329,293.02 toward the construction of Market Street, the long-envisioned road parallel to Route 100 and Jackson Road.

Market Street and will not be constructed until a much larger commercial development along Route 100 and owned by the Gambone development family comes to pass.

As proposed now, that project includes two four-story hotels of 100 rooms each; a 147,000 home improvement store, a 64,000 square-foot outpatient facility; another 100,000 square feet of retail and several smaller office buildings.

But that project is years away from fruition, according to township officials.

$70 Million in North Coventry

West-Mont Christian Academy on South Hanover Street.

There isn't much to tell you about this startling headline.

It is based on comments North Coventry Supervisors Chairman Jim Marks made at the end of last night's meeting.

He said at Monday's meeting, the board of supervisors was approached by officials from West-Mont Christian Academy, which occupies the former North Coventry Elementary School property adjacent to the township building on South Hanover Street.

They said the school is in contact with an investor willing to spend as much as $70 million to build a hotel, conference center, and possibly some housing on the site.

"It's in the very early stages, but if it comes to fruition, it will definitely be a development of regional significance," said Marks in what may well be the understatement of the week.

That's all we got folks. Here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Houses, Hotels and Traffic