Site plan proposed by developer Pulte Homes for a new 48-unit apartment building, center right, and new clubhouse next to a swimming pool, center left, in the Jacobs Woods community near Forty Foot Road, top, and Welsh Road, right, as shown during the July 9, 2025 Towamencin supervisors meeting. (Screenshot of meeting video)
Proposal brings total applications for new housing units in Towamencin to more than 900
Another housing project is in the works in Towamencin, with a developer making the case for roughly 48 new units in an existing apartment complex.
Township officials saw details last week of a proposal from the Jacobs Woods community located near Forty Foot Road and Welsh Road.
“There are 230 units out there today. What we’re proposing is 48 new flats,” said engineer Rolph Graf.
Housing and development have been hot topics in Towamencin all summer, as plans have been presented in recent months for over 300 apartments and townhouses on the Freddy Hill Farms property on Sumneytown Pike, 250-plus units near the intersection of Sumneytown and Forty Foot Road; a fresh plan for roughly 200 apartments near a long-vacant shopping center at Forty Foot and Allentown Road, another 86 units on Old Forty Foot Road, and 33 more on a parcel adjacent to Freddy Hill.
During the township supervisors meeting on July 9, Graf and Equus Vice President of Development Guy Wolfington outlined their latest plans.
“We’ve done new development, and we’ve also worked on infill of existing properties, and we’ve enhanced those properties in many ways, which is what we’re looking to propose,” Wolfington said.
“What we’re looking to do is basically, in the center, propose a new clubhouse with a pool, and amenity service area, and then where the clubhouse is today we’re looking to propose a new garden-style luxury apartment building,” he said.
That new apartment building would be two stories high, and serviced by elevators unlike any of the current buildings in the complex, the developer told the board.
“Some of them, in the townhomes, have two flights of stairs. Many of the residents have been here a long time, so the opportunity to provide them with a building that’s brand new, garden-style apartments, but also elevator-serviced, that allows them the opportunity to stay within the community,” he said.
Graf then showed how a new clubhouse of roughly 5,600 square feet would be built next to a current swimming pool on the southern end of the site, and the new apartment building of roughly 28,000 square feet would be L-shaped and roughly perpendicular to existing parking lots closer to Welsh Road. Doing so would be by-right under the current zoning for the property, the engineer told the board, and would not impact any open space or trees there now.
The Jacobs Woods development in Towamencin is seen from above, with Welsh Road at bottom right, Allentown Road at top left, and the Chick-Fil-A and Freddy’s restaurants at top right. (Image courtesy of JacobsWoods.com)“There are currently, 812 parking spaces, which is way over-parked based on your zoning requirements. Our proposal is the 48 new units, and we would up the parking to 878 spaces, which is well in excess of the requirements of the ordinance,” he said.
In vetting by the township’s planning commision, that group raised the question of sidewalks, which the developer has agreed to add along their side of Welsh Road, the engineer added.
“There’s a very established trail system across Welsh Road. The question becomes, do we want to do something on this side? And we’re prepared to do that, if that’s what the planning commission and community think is a benefit,” Graf said.
The plan requires no zoning relief, and “some supplemental” stormwater management will also be required by current codes, and finalized as the plans are refined, Graf said, with no changes expected for the road access or utility connections to the current development.
Supervisor Kofi Osei noted the zoning there now is for mixed residential cluster development; the developer said no changes are needed to the MRC zoning, and Osei noted that similar zoning is currently on the books for the Freddy Hill Farms property on Sumneytown Pike. Supervisor Kristin Warner added that she liked the new sidewalks, and board Chair Joyce Snyder said her favorite new feature was the increased accessibility.
“I like the idea of having wheelchair-accessible second floors. That’s something that is near and dear to my heart,” she said.
Towamencin’s supervisors next meet at 7 p.m. on July 23 at the township administration building, 1090 Troxel Road. For more information visit www.Towamencin.org
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