Pross Road in Towamencin.
Sober living house opened last year amid neighbor concerns
A sobriety house in Towamencin is looking to expand.
Township officials heard an update this week on a hearing next week for Pross House, a sober living home that started operating in a township neighborhood last year.
“The zoning hearing board will be holding a hearing on Wednesday, April 30th, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.,” said supervisors Chairman Chuck Wilson, “to permit a drug and alcohol recovery house for up to 12 women.”
Neighbors turned out last spring to the township to voice concerns about ‘Pross House for Women,’ a facility run by Sunlight of the Spirit House, an Eagleville-based operator of sober living houses for individuals who have completed treatment and wish to live in a sober environment.
After initial alerts from the neighbors to the township in early April that the house was about to open, residents reiterated their worries weeks later, citing concerns about safety, traffic, visitors to the neighborhood, and whether the type of treatment and living situation was best for those involved. Township officials said at the time they were seeking info from the operators, who had been cooperative, and later that summer the township said the operator was working on obtaining a state license, and working with township code staff on inspections.
Flier for Sunlight of the Spirit House’s planned “Pross House for Women” facility in Towamencin.Sunlight drew similar feedback from residents when they sought approvals for a home on Montgomery Avenue in North Wales throughout 2015, that town’s zoning board denied their request for more than three residents in the home, prompting Sunlight to file a lawsuit against the town in 2016. Sunlight has also worked with a similar Quakertown-based recovery foundation to develop standards for such facilities across the state, and Sunlight currently lists one home in Lansdale and one in Hatfield as being in operation.
During the supervisors meeting on Wednesday night, Wilson read an action item noting the upcoming application by Ruth Kilgore, identified last year as one of the operators of the Pross House, seeking a special exception from the township’s zoning ordinance, from use regulations for the R-125 residential zoning district, and from “the definition of ‘family’” in the township’s codebook, Wilson said.
“The only action for the board this evening is to decide whether we are giving the solicitor explicit instructions, as to the zoning hearing to be held,” and whether to support oppose, or stay neutral on the application, Wilson said. No action was taken.
Sunlight makes no mention of the upcoming hearing on their Facebook page, but recent posts include thanks for a box of donated books, a plea to help a friend in need of a liver transplant, a job listing seeking a substance use disorder therapist, photos of a one-year anniversary celebration in early April, and success stories of those who have hit sobriety milestones.
Towamencin’s zoning hearing board next meets at 6:30 p.m. on April 30 and the board of supervisors next meets at 7 p.m. on May 14, both at the township administration building, 1090 Troxel Road. For more information visit www.Towamencin.org.
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