NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP - After several years of delay, mostly
because of the now-lifted sewer moratorium, the board of supervisors officially
approved a development agreement with The Promenade, a two building mixed-use
redevelopment project along North Sycamore Street.
With the 5-0 vote at its July 9 meeting, the supervisors
approved the final step in the long-awaited project which will have up to six
stores and 26 luxury apartments, and is expected to fulfill the vision of a
pedestrian-friendly downtown street.
The Promenade is the brainchild of Jim Worthington, who owns
the Newtown Athletic Club (NAC), and will be built on the roughly two-acre site
of the old Acme supermarket, which was demolished last September during a
public ceremony.
According to Worthington’s attorney Ed Murphy, construction
will begin immediately with a completion date set for July 2015.
“We will start as soon as possible,” Murphy said.
The Promenade already has one high-profile tenant which will
serve as the anchor store.
In October, Worthington reached an agreement with
Anthropologie, a 175-store national chain based in Wayne which specializes in
women’s clothing, accessories and home décor.
As part of the just-approved development agreement, The
Promenade will pay $250,000 fee to the township for recreation, of which
$10,000 will be earmarked for the Newtown Library Company.
In addition, the developer will contribute roughly $119,000
for a traffic impact study.
The township’s Historical Architectural Review Board (HARB)
also reviewed the development plans, and offered recommendations on 12 items
pending compliance by the developer.
They include using stone, instead of brick, for the facade
of the site’s free-standing building, and requiring HARB’s future approval for
the color of the building’s shingles and shade of paint.
As part of the development agreement, the supervisors
accepted HARB’s recommendations.
The supervisors also voted 5-0 to temporarily waive the
requirement that the developer acquire an easement on a neighboring property so
that a stone embankment, known as riprap, can be installed to fortify a portion
of nearby Newtown Creek.
Under the township’s stormwater-management ordinance,
developers are required to minimize erosion from water running off their
property.
However, Murphy explained that adjoining property owners did
not want to agree to such an easement at this time, so he asked the supervisors
for a waiver in order that an off-site ‘riprap’ would not be required.
At the recommendation of township solicitor Jeffrey Garton,
the board agreed to the waiver with the provision that The Promenade try to
obtain the easement within the next 90-days. If not, then the waiver would take
effect.
If an easement is eventually granted, the stone installation
would be put in place at the back-end of the project, according to Murphy who
said that it would not delay construction.
The board also unanimously approved a resolution allowing
the developer to file a permit with PennDOT so that a traffic signal can be
installed at the site.
The project had been stymied by the Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP) that had withheld issuing sewer permits for
new development in 13 Lower Bucks County municipalities, including Newtown
Township and Newtown Borough.
That regional moratorium was lifted in April when the DEP
reached an agreement with the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority (BCWSA),
the agency which oversees wastewater management in the area.
With sewer permits now available, several area projects,
including The Promenade, will now proceed.
In addition to The Promenade, the supervisors also
unanimously approved a development agreement and conditional use agreement for
Univest Bank.
The approval came two weeks after the board, at its June 25
meeting, gave the green light to the final plans for 2,200 square-foot
full-service bank branch on Swamp Road between the LukOil service station and
the Newtown Shopping Plaza which is at the intersection of South Eagle Road.
The three-quarters of an acre tract is zoned convenience
commercial, and will include a drive-through and ATM.
A vacant house and garage now on the property will be
demolished to make way for the bank branch.
Last year, the bank had agreed to buy the site last year
from Bob and Bill Delia, owners of Meglio Wood Fired Pizzeria in the Newtown
Shopping Plaza.
The Delias had wanted to open a new restaurant on the
adjacent property, but the owners of the shopping plaza had refused to
negotiate a common entrance at Swamp and South Eagle Roads, scrapping those
plans.
That changed when the bank recently reached a deal with the
shopping center on a shared entrance.
Meanwhile, the Meglio owners decided to move the pizzeria to
a new location on North Sycamore Street just north of Washington Avenue. Those
plans are currently under review by the township.
As part of the agreement with the township, Univest will
provide adequate parking and install a sidewalk.
Under the conditional use agreement, which was also approved
by the supervisors, the bank branch will have no more than six employees at any
given time. In addition, the hours of operation will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1p.m. on Saturdays.
Univest, which is based in nearby Souderton, Montgomery
County, will move its branch from the Newtown Business Commons on
Newtown-Yardley Road, where it has been for 17 years, to the new Swamp Road
location.
Source: Bucks
Local News
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