Frazer supervisors waived two development requirements while giving preliminary approval for a senior housing development near Pittsburgh Mills mall.
Approval for the plan proposed by Foxlane Homes came after a public hearing on the plan attended by about 10 residents.
Mike McAneny, a Foxlane official who did not testify at the hearing, said the cost of the development would be somewhere around $25 million to $30 million when completed. He declined to say what the price of the homes would be.
Mark Schmidt of Hampton Technical Associates, an engineer for the project, said the development is designed for people 55 and older and would consist of 88 lots for single-family homes on a 26-acre parcel off Butler-Logan Road near Pittsburgh Mills mall. The lots measure 60 feet wide by 120 feet deep, according to McAneny.
Access to the development would be via a “boulevard entrance” off Butler-Logan Road.
“Four of these lots we are going to indicate as future development because of the way the grading goes,” Schmidt said.
Those lots are located along the northwestern edge of the property, which is a steeper part of the hilly parcel and may require some fill application, he said.
As the plan is now, Schmidt said, there is no intent to fill-in other parts of the parcel.
“If anything, we’ll be flattening out slopes,” he said.
In fact, grading of slopes is one of the waivers the developers sought and were granted.
Township Solicitor Alyssa Golfieri explained the requirement that grading be limited to 40% of the slope is a state regulation. She said local officials can waive it under certain conditions.
“Most developers can obtain a waiver if they agree to work with a geo-technical engineer and, even then, safeguards have to be put in place,” Golfieri said.
She emphasized the plan is only preliminary and has a long way to go before the supervisors give it final approval.
“There is a laundry list of things they (Foxlane) are going to have to do,” she said.
The other waiver Foxlane was granted was for a township regulation requiring trees to be planted along streets every 60 feet.
Schmidt pointed out that the lots are only 60 feet wide and each dwelling will have a 20-foot-wide driveway, which makes complying with that requirement difficult.
The supervisors unanimously granted the waivers.
Responding to a question from a resident, Schmidt said that aside from the four lots he mentioned, there are no plans for future expansion.
At the conclusion of the hearing, supervisors also approved submission of a Sewage Facilities Planning Module for the development.
“I think it’s good news. It doesn’t affect the schools because it’s for people age 55 and above; it makes something out of a vacant piece of property. I think it’s a win-win,” supervisors Chairman Matthew Beacom said.