Towamencin approves zoning change for ‘Main Street’ development

A zoning change needed for a key development in Towamencin is now on the books.

Township officials have voted to approve a zoning request from developer PSDC as the first step needed for a planned apartment complex near Sumneytown Pike and Forty Foot Road.

“What this ordinance does is, it effectively takes permitted residential uses in current village overlay sectors 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D, that are already permitted on the other side of Sumneytown Pike from where Margarita’s is, and moves those over to the Towamencin Corporate Center,” McHugh said.

Talks began back in 2018 on a code update to allow new uses within the township’s current village overlay area, an area of roughly 20 acres surrounding Forty Foot and Sumneytown, and the board voted in early 2020 to allow different uses in each of several “sectors” north of Sumneytown near Reiff Road.

Few updates on that site followed until early 2024, when PSDC said they had acquired more properties around that intersection, and that summer the developer said they had acquired properties on the south side of Sumneytown in addition to the north side, including a large office building on the corner that could be converted into apartments or a hotel, assembling over a dozen different parcels for a possible office and retail development there.

In June the developer showed a complex of several new buildings proposed behind the current office building on the corner, with up to 400 apartment units possible under their requested zoning change; in July the board and developer debated the building heights and number of parking spaces and dwelling units per acre that should be allowed there, and in August the attorney outlined an ordinance the board could consider to shift the dense residential uses from the north to the south side of Sumneytown Pike.

During a supervisors’ meeting in November, attorney Matt McHugh and engineer John Alejnikov outlined the prior talks so far, the year-and-a-half of talks on the latest version since early 2024, and the intent of the current changes.

The current overlay covers parcels bounded by Reiff Road and Sumneytown Pike, and prior township codes permitted townhouses, multiplexes, housing for the elderly, and apartment uses in some of the sectors, but not all, and the ordinance change would remove those uses on the north side of Sumneytown and allow them on the south side instead. The new code would also allow a building height of up to 56 feet, and the definition of residential density is based on a percentage of the total gross floor area of all structures there.   

“It’s not easy to quantify an exact number of residential dwelling units that are permitted in that sector, except that it’s a 20.59-acre parcel with pretty much 100 percent building coverage and 100 percent impervious surface, and permitted four stories of height,” McHugh said.

“You’re not going to develop 100 percent building, because you’re going to need things like stormwater management, roads and access points, but we feel comfortable we could lay out a plan that would exceed 250 dwelling units, and as many as 300 dwelling units, in sectors 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D right now,” he said.

“We could achieve a minimum of at least 250, and most likely up to 300 dwelling units currently. That’s important, because instead of allowing that density on that side of the street, the ordinance is proposing to remove it and move it over,” McHugh said.

As they spoke, the attorney and engineer showed a series of overhead maps, with the initial zoning and overlays on the north side of Sumneytown highlighted first, then the south side between Sumneytown and the Northeast Extension highlighted. In the southern section, uses already allowed include convenience stores, medical office and eating establishments, while the updated code allows several more.

“We’re adding four new uses: hotel/motel, would be permitted by conditional use; an accessory roof-mounted solar use; electric charging stations; and we’ve defined a multifamily dwelling use that would be permitted by conditional use, under the Main Street overlay,” McHugh said.

Under the new overlay, building coverage would be increased to 75 percent from the prior 50 percent; impervious surface coverage would remain at the current 90 percent, and the allowed building height would remain at 50 feet with three stories, for the multifamily and hotel/motel use only. The only change to the site plan already shown was to reduce the total parking, with a community center and two three-story multifamily buildings to be added around a pond at the center of the site.

“It was adjusted to show less parking on site and more green area,” McHugh said.

Supervisors still have questions

Supervisor Chuck Wilson said he has heard concerns that the properties on the north side of Reiff Road could still be changed to the high-density apartment uses under the prior zoning, and McHugh said that would not be allowed under the new code.

“They would have to make a proposal to get the overlay to apply to those properties. It would be your legislative function to change that,” Solicitor Bob Iannozzi said.

“And we’ve made the commitment that we’re shifting the residential to (the south) side of Sumneytown Pike. (The north) side of Sumneytown Pike is not going to have residential uses,” McHugh added.

Supervisor Kristin Warner said she often saw little traffic now, but was concerned about a steep increase in traffic from new tenants, and McHugh said if the zoning change is adopted, the developer would hten need to bring back a master plan for the site, seek conditional use approval, then do traffic studies and identify any needed road or driveway improvements in that area during the land development process for any buildings there.

“This is the first step in a lengthy process. If the zoning is adopted, all the uses are by conditional use, which means we’ve got to come to the board with a master plan for the site, and get conditional use approval,” he said.

Warner then asked if she had walked on trails through the site, and noise from “that turnpike is awfully loud,” then asked how the developer would handle noise concerns or sound barriers for the new residential and commercial buildings. McHugh said those specifics would be addressed during any land development plan.

“This is putting the parameters there. It’s going to be based on marketability: obviously, you don’t want to put a building there that’s going to be too loud for people to work in. We’ll have to address that as we get further in the process,” McHugh said.

Warner then asked if the pond and trails there now would be counted toward the minimum open space requirements the developer would have to accomplish, and McHugh said they likely would, but specifics still need to be refined.

“In general, you’re seeing more green space on the site than currently exists,” McHugh said. “By having a 100,000-square-foot requirement of open space, I think it then pushes the development to utilize that portion, and retain it.”

How would the clubhouse be run or developed? In prior developments, McHugh said, PSDC has partnered with a residential developer that will seek the conditional use approval for a specific building or buildings, and seek approvals for features such as a swimming pool, business center, or other extras, all up to the operator.

Public sounds off

Resident Casey Hannings asked if the site development would impact the nature of the site, and why residents visit now.

“The trail might stay in place, but it looks like a significant amount of the vegetation and green, permeable ground is lost to pavement, parking, buildings. While the trail might stay, it looks like a lot of the scenery is removed,” Hannings said.

He then said he’d prefer to see residential development on the north side of Sumneytown, where paving already exists from the former township administration building, than on the south side near the trail and pond.

“Having access to nature, and natural spaces, and trails with wildflowers, that currently exist in that space, have health benefits, quality of life benefits. There’s a lot of scenery, wildflowers along that trail, and it looks like a decent portion of it gets removed for pavement,” Hannings said.

Barry Kenyon said he had concerns about the entrance and exit onto Bustard Road, and thought a right-turn-only restriction into and out of the site onto Bustard could be safer, while others making left turns could use a traffic signal exiting onto Sumneytown instead, before asking how many new children the development would bring.

“Our studies show that these types of apartment buildings generally don’t have a lot of school-age children,” Hughes said.

Joe Meehan, township parks board chairman, asked for clarification on the overlay specifics, asking if the 100,000-square-foot requirement in the new overlay called for “no fewer than two of these spaces.” McHugh answered that the code meant two distinct spaces totaling 100,000 square feet.

“That is language that is existing in your current zoning ordinance, for the village overlay. The only change that we made was in the village overlay, it’s 65,000 square feet. We increased it to 100,000, and otherwise it’s verbatim,” McHugh said. “And the next sentence is, ‘all of this is subject to the approval of the board of supervisors.’ Whether it’s going to be open space, civic, recreational or amenity, we’ve gotta show them those details as part of our development plan.”

Resident Lynn Fox asked for specifics on where residential development was allowed under the current code versus the new overlay, and whether those areas on the north side of Sumneytown still had a residential density requirement.

“Since we removed all residential uses from those (north side) sectors, there’s no need for a density restriction, since residential is not permitted,” McHugh said.

Kathleen Hangey asked if the township’s fire company had vetted the plans yet, and if the development had space for firetrucks or similar vehicles to navigate the site; McHugh said the specific vehicle dimensions would be vetted during land development by all township consultants, including the fire marshal.

Hangey then asked what would go on the north side, and McHugh said that’s undecided: “Still to be determined, but it won’t be residential.” The resident then asked if the pond and trails would remain open for public use, and the attorney answered that they would be “incorporated into the development,” with specifics to follow. Resident Jenn Foster then asked if the trail would become private as part of the new development, and McHugh answered, “it’s not going to change from how it’s currently used.”

Lisa Lieb asked what could happen with the large office building currently located on the corner of Sumneytown and Bustard Road if not converted into a hotel, and McHugh said it would have to follow the uses listed in the new overlay, with a concept for hotel conversion estimating roughly 100 rooms there, which would be counted separately from the new residential. Rich Costlow then asked if the clubhouse or other new amenities would be open to the public, and said he’d prefer as much be made publicly available as possible.

Joe Silverman said he recalled an earlier round of development in that area that required him and other property owners give rights-of-way for widening that road, and thought another round of widening may not be enough.

“Traffic is always going to be a problem, no matter what you put there: residential or commercial, it’s always going to be a problem,” he said.

After the close of the comments, Supervisor Chuck Wilson made a motion to adopt the ordinance, and Fox objected, saying she had a pending right-to-know request relating to the project. Iannozzi, the solicitor, answered that the board could still act, or choose not to act, regardless of that request.

“One thing is for certain: the right-to-know request has no bearing on the board’s action or inaction this evening,” the attorney said.

Supervisor Kofi Osei said he initially voted against advertising due to concerns about open space and traffic “that I think could have been addressed earlier…I think this ordinance is incomplete, and I’ll be voting no.”  The supervisors then voted 3-2 in favor of adopting the new zoning, with Osei and supervisor Amer Barghouth voting against.

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