U. Pottsgrove Zoners Deny Senior Housing Bid

Photo by Evan Brandt

The Kummerer tract, as seen from Pine Ford Road, where Artisan Development plans to build 143-age-restricted homes on 49 acres of what is now farmland.

The Upper Pottsgrove Zoning Board has denied an attempt by the developer seeking to build 143 age-restricted homes on 49 acres off Kummerer Road to allow more such homes on a different parcel.

The first phase of Artisan's project, which is to be built

on the land pictured above.

During an Aug. 13 hearing, the zoning board denied Artisan Development Group's appeal of a determination by zoning officer Paul Labe that a parcel known as the Lord tract does not meet the qualifications for the township's age-restricted zoning, according to Township Manager Michelle Reddick.

She said the zoning board also denied a variance request from Artisan.

The matter is tentatively scheduled for the Sept. 21 meeting of the Upper Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners, "if they provide us with the documentation we've asked for," Reddick said on Aug. 31.

Artisan has proposed a two-stage project to build age-restricted housing that would ultimately result in 

280 or more homes along Kummerer Road, Pine Ford Road and Farmington Avenue.

This rendering shows the full build out of what Artisan

initially proposed as all age-restricted housing. The parcel

the Zoning Board denied on Aug. 13 is additional acreage.

The first phase, to build 143 homes on 49 aces, received preliminary/final site plan approval from the township commissioners in November.

A second phase has been loosely proposed for connecting acreage to the west, reaching over to Evans Road.

Reddick said the parcel on which the zoning board ruled on Aug. 13 is off Chestnut Grove Road and would be in addition to the first two parcels initially proposed.

The third parcel would have added as many as 122 more townhouses, Reddick said.

Upper Pottsgrove is not the only place Artisan has proposed age-restricted housing.

On Wednesday, East Vincent Supervisors will conduct the second half of a hearing by which Artisan is seeking an ordinance change to allow the construction of 212-unit age-restricted homes on 66 acres of farmland off Stony Run Road/

Jon Benson, who has been the Artisan spokesperson with Upper Pottsgrove, consumed most of the hearing's time during the first meeting on Aug. 19. The meeting Wednesday is expected to be comprised primarily of responses from the public.

Artisan is also the developer applying to build 115 townhomes on 19-plus acres off Route 100 at the intersection with Hoffecker Road in North Coventry. That plan is in the beginning stages.